Next Thursday (June 3, 2010), Thomas Thurston will predict if your business will succeed...or fail.
That's right, the Oregon Entrepreneur Network (OEN) is inviting local businesses of all sizes to attend next week's OEN Workshop to determine, "What if we're doing it all wrong? Predicting if your business will survive or fail."
I recently met with Thomas Thurston, president and managing director of Growth Science International, to get the inside scoop on what appears to be a very compelling OEN Workshop. Thurston's VERY impressive scholastic pedigree, business experience, and in-depth research has positioned him to be an industry authority on how to predict if a business will likely survive or fail.
Moreover, Thurston's research at Intel and later at Harvard provided the key ingredients for entrepreneurs, business owners and managers to better understand the future of its business and how to stave off failure, beat the competition and develop a strong strategy to position the business to succeed.
Now I won't give readers of this blog the whole skinny of what I learned during my meeting with Thurston (come to the OEN Workshop to hear it from the man himself!), but I will provide the nucleus of his insights. According to Thurston, most entrepreneurs have historically used the "inside view" for startup decision-making. Inside views use information that is close at hand to evaluate a business by focusing on its specific attributes, such as quality of the team, product nuances or technological features.
These inputs can include subjective evidence, anecdotes and fallacious perceptions. Conversely, the "outside view" ask if there are similar circumstances that can provide a statistical basis for a decision. Rather than seeing every problem as unique, the outside view wants to know if others have faced similar problems before and, if so, what happened.
Through this and other research, a handful of empirical models continue to prove highly effective and teachable for small entrepreneurial decision making, strategy definition and growth.
Thurston informed me that this OEN Workshop will be very interactive (hence, "work"shop) and will let attendees test drive how this practice can help their business succeed.
I would encourage you to attend...your business and its future may depend on it!
When:June 3, 2010 (4:00-6:00 PM)
Where: Perkins & Co.
1211 SW 5th Ave, Ste 1000
Portland, OR 97204-
1211 SW 5th Ave, Ste 1000
Portland, OR 97204-
$30 for members/$70 for non-members (click here for registration).