Abstract

“If you think you can or you think you can’t, you are probably right . . .”

Henry Ford made this remark and it is so true in the the field of entrepreneurship. In some ways, it is even more important for individuals to have an utter self-belief! If they do not, how will their investors, clients, staff and others believe in them? A mindset that is positive and alert is thought to be essential to entrepreneurship. It is also important to be clear about the reasons for pursuing an opportunity.

Why would we want to pursue an opportunity? Is it to make money? Is it to change the world? Is it to see our product out there? Is it to feel a sense of autonomy and independence? Or is it just because we can’t get a job? And how is this motivation affected? For example, do we have family support, a great team, or a robust venture proposition? Are the surrounding factors running in our favour or against us?

In the second session of the 2012-2013 Enterprise Tuesday series, we have an opportunity to explore mind sets and motivations in the context of one of the fastest growing biotech firms in Europe. Horizon Discovery has been growing at 100%+ per annum by leveraging its strong IP, technology and customer base. It is a fast growing company rather than a lifestyle venture. What implication does this have on the management team and the business itself?

How does a team form the skills to complement their vision to tackle the appropriateness of business models, regulatory challenges, the need for deep research pockets, sales to large corporates and other bureaucracies and more generally manage teams of very bright people?

These and more questions will be tackled by our guest speaker Darrin Disley, a serial entrepreneur who has been involved in the start-up and growth of ten high-tech business ventures.

Interested in attending? Please register at http://www.cfel.jbs.cam.ac.uk/programmes/enterprisetuesday/register.html

Registration is from 18:00. The lecture starts from 18:30 followed by networking from 20:00.

Enterprise Tuesday is a series of FREE lectures and networking sessions from November to February each year which is managed and delivered by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL).

www.cfel.jbs.cam.ac.uk