Don't Reinvent the Wheel, Make It Better: Assembling Analogs, Antilogs, and Leaps of Faith to Get to Plan B--Building a Better Business Model

By: John Mullins and Randy Komisar

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Synopsis: Entrepreneurs drive economic growth all over the world. But the fact is, most successful ventures represent the evolution of a business idea over time--from initial concept, or Plan A, through multiple iterations--rather than the execution of an entrepreneur's original vision. How do you go from the germ of an idea to one that's truly compelling, with a viable business model to match? One tested approach is to learn from the experiences of others, using both successful and failed endeavors to inform your decisions and the development and testing of your business hypotheses. This chapter shows how Apple, Pantaloon, and the African Leadership Academy used analogs--successful predecessors worth mimicking--and antilogs--successful and unsuccessful predecessors from whose example you choose to deviate--to arrive at the most compelling business model. This chapter was originally published as Chapter 1 of "Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model."