I’ll be speaking toward the end of February on transitioning to entrepreneurship and what to expect. The presentation will be turned into an ~15 part blog post series that I’ll start writing today.

So … where to begin … well at the beginning of course. I like to use mind maps and find for a visual learner like myself mind maps are a great way to remember a presentation. This post will give a bit of an overview of the mind map. Basically the presentation flows clockwise around the mind map; A bit about me (in green), THE Leap (in red), Being an Entrepreneur (in yellow) and Entrepreneur test (in grey).

What qualifies me to speak on the topic? Well to start with I have personally made the transition and have many lessons learned for others thinking about taking the leap. I have worked for a variety of technology companies, large ones then going to progressively smaller companies until venturing fourth on my own. I kind of migrated toward entrepreneurship and then decided to jump right in. More on this in a future post.
The first part (in red) of the mind map highlites the leap to entrepreneurship and the associated mental challenges … this is perhaps the biggest adjustment for most people moving from employee to entrepreneur.

Transitioning from being an employee to an entrepreneur is a huge leap and a significant challenge for someone that has spent their career in a large enterprise or government. As an employee (the larger the company the more appropriate) your domain knowledge is a thin deep vertical slice … as an entrepreneur you need a very broad horizontal base of knowledge with domain spikes. This is a huge paradigm shift. Perhaps the most significant challenge is the mental change associated with this vertical to horizontal knowledge transition where you are your own boss and free from the 9 to 5 routine. On the surface being your own boss and freedom sounds great but, there are challenges too.

The second part of the presentation (in yellow) deals with what it is like to be an entrepreneur, how to prepare, planning and then execution. Then of course there is what to expect as you are going through the process of starting your business. Ian draws much of his insights from the experience in starting up TheCodeFactory and the many bumps in the road along the way and of course the many small victories too.

Finally, (in grey) How do you know if you have the entrepreneurial right stuff. Ian has a very simple 3 step process to see if you might be suited to the entrepreneurial life.

Next post a bit more on my experience transitioning from employee to entrepreneur.

Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Featured, Ottawa, Start-up, The Code Factory by admin
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