What Exactly is Disciplined Entrepreneurship in Three Sentences?

Recently, a colleague from Stanford sent me a link to an article that he had run across in the Silicon Republic. Now I must admit, that is not a publication I usually read but I was happy when I saw MIT EDP alum Mary Rodgers smiling picture at the top of the article. Mary is an entrepreneurship amplifier in Galway’s (Ireland) Portershed. The title of the article was “Founders need to articulate and sell the value of change to customers” which was nice but I really wanted to hear what else Mary had to say based on the enthusiasm of this professor from Stanford. I was not let down.

The article starts out with a nice introduction of what Mary is doing and what she has accomplished and then it is a series of 11 questions, all good. As I read through them, I found myself positively shaking my head and agreeing which the answers does not happen for most articles on entrepreneurship – at least not all of the responses. But when I got to the sixth question, “What resources and tools are an absolute must for your arsenal?” – her answer got me up out of my seat to cheer. It is probably the most succinct descriptions I have read, heard or seen of what DE is all about. Let me give you her exact quote:

“There is no one answer – the disciplined entrepreneurship process combines multiple publications such as lean business models, ‘crossing the chasm’ and others, to create a cohesive actionable disciplined process. I use these learnings every day to stress-test a solution or to help a company to problem-solve. Following the 24 steps of disciplined entrepreneurship will accelerate success and failure, and takes the subjective out of the equation.”
Mary Rodgers

I love this definition and I can’t tell you how great it was to hear it coming from someone else’s mouth. It made my day. I can also see why the Stanford professor liked it as well. It is inclusive but also rigorous and relevant. Foreshadowing building off this, in another article in the near future, I am looking forward to addressing why I am now so convinced that this DE process really works. We have now accumulated enough data to draw this conclusion with high confidence.

Here is a link to the article in its entirety: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/portershed-mary-rodgers-startup-advice. Now just because I really loved almost every word of the article, you know I will quibble with something… and I will. The last question asked is “What’s the number-one piece of advice you have for entrepreneurs?” and Mary’s answer is “Be resilient.” I would have said “Be antifragile” but that is for another article/blog post which will be coming very soon too.

Thanks, Mary for all you do for entrepreneurs and summarizing the concept so well. We can all learn from each other!