88% Exceptional Execution of an Ordinary Idea


Two interesting quotes that I spotted on Time's Myth of the Fearless Entrepreneur.

Columbia University business professor Amar Bhidé found that only 12% of growth-company founders surveyed attribute their success to an "unusual or extraordinary idea"; 88% reported that their success was due mainly to "exceptional execution of an ordinary idea."

E.g. If you have Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Richard Branson are working together to start a company regardless of what they are selling, you'll probably want to invest in it.

The evidence suggests that as entrepreneurial leaders become more successful, there is a tendency for them to become more risk averse--a concept called "loss aversion" made famous by Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, who studied behavioral economics.

Well, there's more at stake on the table.