I’m not a huge fan of Harvard Business Review (HBR). Having to pay for articles is not something I enjoy. But I keep HBR on my Feedly reader because once in a while there will be an absolute, can’t-miss, gem of a post from HBR, and Feedly let’s me preview the article for free. One of those can’t-miss posts is Why I Tell My MBA Students to Stop Looking for a Job and Join the Gig Economy by Diane Mulcahy. If the title wasn’t striking enough, the first couple of paragraphs will be:
When the students in the MBA course I teach on the gig economy ask me for the best thing they can do to prepare for their future careers, I tell them:
“Stop looking for a job.”
This may sound like odd advice to give MBA students. After all, their degrees are designed to catapult them directly into the upper echelons of corporate America, and most students begin their studies with the goal of getting a job. The problem is, jobs aren’t what they used to be. Growth in the number of jobs is stagnating and full-time jobs are both insecure and risky. Companies no longer make promises of either professional or financial security to today’s workforce.
Students. In an MBA course. Are being told “Your MBA means nothing, you should be an entrepreneur.” Crazy, right?!
Assisting Freelancers
I have written similar posts to that of Mulcahy, I’ve even quoted her in one of them, Life as a Node, where I wrote about the future consisting of many freelance entrepreneurs trying to lead a happier life. My goal since quitting has been to come up with something to assist freelancers. I think the gig economy will consume us all, sooner than we see coming, and we’ll need stability for people taking the entrepreneurial plunge. So, I decided to do something about it.
My Entrepreneurial Plunge
At this moment I don’t want to elaborate on what I’m working on, I’m sure you’ll find out in the coming days. But I do want to point out what an entrepreneur is. An entrepreneur is someone who sees a market failure, who sees an opportunity, and instead of sitting back and waiting for someone to create the solution, they go out and create it. Ramit Sethi said it perfectly in a recent email of his titled “The most annoying person in your family”:
The Great Idea Guy who’s always cooking up a business/invention/app and constantly bemoaning how he “had that idea first”
That last one is the worst. Next time you see him, he’ll be on to a different idea. A different invention. A different business he’s “going to start.”
It made me think about this study of what elderly people regret most: “I never pursued my dreams or aspirations” was NUMBER ONE!!
Here’s something that should terrify you: Everyone who wants to start a business is just a half-step away from being “great idea guy.”
Anyone can find a business idea — just google “business ideas.” The difference between the “great idea guy” and an entrepreneur who can take 3 months off next year is going the extra step to find a profitable idea.
I vow to not be the “Great Idea Guy.” I also vow to help freelancers. That’s my goal, that’s what I’m working on, and that’s my entrepreneurial plunge.