Nail it, Scale it, Sail it - an entrepreneurial journey | Loredana Pădurean | TEDxCluj

Why only 4% of the entrepreneurs are successful while all others fail? Loredana Pădurean, co-author of Nail It, Scale It, Sale It, builds a compelling case around outdoor activities metaphors. While the early-stage entrepreneur is a jungle trekker, a more established organization is a mountain hiker. Prof. Dr. Loredana Pădurean is the Associate Dean of the newly established Asia School of Business in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in collaboration with MIT Sloan School of Management. She is an International Faculty Fellow at MIT Sloan in Cambridge, MA, USA with global teaching and speaking experience in US, India, Italy, Switzerland, Malaysia, Australia and beyond.

[alexBBmichaels]

What a great description in creating a business. Great stuff.

[meganfreed]

Climbing up mountains, navigating life's peaks and valleys, carving our way and rising to the occasions. You've got to have an entrepeneurial spirit to live.

[ab_music]

It is great to have a picture of how organizations should be structured in different phases of the entrepreneurial journey. Knowing when to add/decrease or refine the skills within your team and recalibrating your resources based on the challenges present will be essential to the overall success of the organization. This talk was able to cover beyond those aspects and unlocks added value that most of the entrepreneurs take for granted.

[florenciaconde]

Loredana, thank you for such a smart talk. I am a jungle trekker right now and I think your talk will help me succeed.

[justinjjtaylor]

While the concept of jungle in business has been correct, so many small businesses have failed during COVID. I hope that we have learned more lessons than just survival and that small businesses are the key to future growth and we people need to support the small ones.

[michaelhunt]

this talk was beyond helpful... this lady clearly knows her stuff!! she's on the money, i would love to work for her!!

[therealblackdynasty]

I bet this woman would be brilliant at branding, she's got such a spot on perspective and a way with words. I feel like she would be a great mentor too.

[amandasilver]

The talk really resonates with my entrepreneurial journey! I think the key point is that it's important not to over-glamorize what it means to work in startups. It takes a lot of sustained effort and resilience, and you see the best (and worst) parts of yourself and others.

[hellotraveller]

Prof Loredana shared a valuable fact, the main reason entrepreneurs do not succeed is because they do not know the road ahead, leading them to not be prepared for their journey. It is where the Nail it – Scale it – Sail it framework comes to remove the ambiguity, properly equip them and help them anticipate the challenges they will face.
In my opinion, structuring the entrepreneurial journey based on the jungle, the mountain and the ocean framework is a spectacular idea. It helps visualize the road ahead while comparing it with environments we are familiar with. Those environments require different strategies along the way. As mentioned in the TedTalk, the same strategy that could make a start-up survive in the jungle would be the one to kill it in the mountain.

I feel extremely lucky that I had a full course about the framework. It is even more powerful when you see it applied to case studies for companies like Tesla, Starbucks, Skinny Girl etc. It transformed how I see the entrepreneurship journey. It is a great way to learn how to deal with companies and recognize on which stage they are, as well as understand the people we work with.

[rongigz]

I saw this a few months ago, someone sent a link and here I am again, and grateful I am. As I try and rebuild my business in "21" this gives me a road map.

[paullim]

This explains a lot not just for companies, but personality. You might have the personality of a nailer, scaler, or sailor. It really explains why I felt so suffocated in a previous company - a great company, with good pay, good benefits, and good people. On the other hand, I felt like a fish in the water with a company with no established processes. What was wrong with me? This really explained that I could have a preference for nailing companies and I'm sure it would, too, give others insights about themselves.

[guntherhofer]

Starting from scratch, I always had that creative critical kind of thinking. As they say, start from the end; see what you want and then take the steps to get there. Way more easier said than don. This talk helps with perspective.

[jovitasardens]

This is such fabulous advice! This needs to be viral. I know SO MANY PEOPLE who are starting their own business after this last year and they need to see this!

[pleaseinspiremetoday]

Amazing woman! Clearly an intellectual. This talk has SO MANY GOOD POINTERS for those of us trying to start our own business.

[Lerggy]

I like the concept of Nail it, Scale it, & Sail it. There is a distinctive difference in resources and teams between the 3 stages. It is very true that being “in the jungle” entrepreneurs should be lean, resourceful rather than have a lot of resources, because pivoting will happen a lot. Also, that business plans are great to be a map, but maps can change depending on where the company is in, which I find a little difficult to adapt – maybe I am not agile enough.
Besides, this reminds me of 2 things that are much related to teams and leadership. It is very true that teams might change going through the Nail it, Scale it & Sail it process as some are generalist or specialist, some are great at execution and some are great with strategy. This differences will affect the change of team members along the way unless they evolve together with the stages of the company. I believe this is one of the reasons why there are a few challenges in companies during the scaling stage. Some companies are great with 10 people, but when trying to scale up to 50, their systems, processes, and members do not fit and inefficiencies are created inhibiting the growth of the company. This is also true for example, a company growing from 200 to 500 member.
This also leads to leadership. There is a limited number of people 1 leader can have a true impact on and have a real supervision on (average of about 5-10 person). Thus, through scaling, there is a relinquishment of certain control and giving trust to other leaders in the organization for growth. There is a fear for the entrepreneur to let go their “baby” for their team to run its course. It is very rare and difficult for the leader to transition from Nail it, to Scale it, and to Sail it. Therefore, many do take the decision to hire a CEO or COO to take over that role. Unless they themselves do, for example Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg who has suffered a few years of unlearning and relearning to take charge of their company in a new stage.

[piperdalgliesh]

YouTube should recommend this to anyone searching how to start a company.

[ericreevesby]

It's never smooth sailing! There really are so many facets to being successful when starting from scratch. There is an abundance of spot on points throughout this though, a lot of warnings for those of us just starting out. I wish I had seen this 6 months ago! But at least it'll help now.

[jonnychu]

Thanks for sharing this, Professor. Absolutely love the clarity that this framework provides. It seems that at every stage, you need different people with different mindsets/attitudes. I wonder if there is a way to "nail" the hiring part. In my experience, getting the right people has always been the challenge. Hiring for culture fit is one thing, but it takes a lot of expertise to determine if the hiree "fits the bill" depending on where the business is. As a manager who was new to hiring, I made a lot of mistakes and I wish I had a guideline to how to hire to get in the right people so that we can focus on what really matters - great execution.

[maryatkin]

She's quite the boss! Great talk! She would be such a great mentor to have!

[echobrainproject]

What a great way to clearly describe the phases!