Entrepreneurial Solutions to the World's Problems
If there is no risk there is no reward

On Thursday, October 3rd, 2013, the Institute for Entrepreneurship gave the John Cabot
community an exclusive viewing of William A. Sahlman's webinar on "Entrepreneurial
Solutions to the World's Problems." Sahlman, a Professor of Business Administration
at Harvard Business School, teaches extensively on the process of entrepreneurial
endeavors. Sahlman discussed the six crucial concepts of the entrepreneurial practice:
perception of opportunity, access of resource, experimentation, the ability to adapt,
consequences of success and failure, and the forces of evil.
Behind any service gap, behind any issue of poverty and behind any issue of human
rights, there is potential for change. Every business problem and every crisis is
an opportunity for an entrepreneur to create value and a sustainable enterprise. Anyone
can conceive an idea but entrepreneurs have a great ability to pivot; they can improve
their idea and build it in accordance with the desires of the public. A business idea
on its own merit cannot survive if the world is not ready for it.
However, society and culture are disgruntled by change, and even the greatest inventions
can be met by heavy resistance. This is why statistics reflect that only three out
of five thousand business plans achieve success. A shocking point in case is iBot,
a brilliantly engineered product that leveraged Sedgway technology to resolve the
handicapped individual's difficulty of climbing stairs, and was subsequently discontinued
due to inadequate medical funding policies. The case is one of many that reveal the
reality of business failure. Despite this real-world hurdle, Sahlman shares the secret
formula of successful businesses: an entrepreneur must scale aspirations in social
enterprise to have an impact within the community, and pair these great ideas with
outstanding human capital.
The John Cabot community found the webinar to be "thought-provoking," as stated by
a student in attendance, Irma Zervens. Students and aspiring entrepreneurs alike were
enlightened on the risks and rewards of social enterprise. Another student, John Ryan
expressed, "I would like to meet him (William A. Sahlman) one on one and talk about
my thoughts and innovative ideas for future businesses."