© 2007-2013 IMD – International Institute for Management Development. Not to be used or reproduced without permission.

www.imd.org/gfbc

Dr Benoît Leleux

Stephan Schmidheiny Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance

PROF. BENOIT LELEUX

Démystifier l’Entreprenariat pour le Promouvoir

© IMD 2007-2013

La perception de l’entrepreneuriat

Un petit génie a l’inspiration divineIl lève une fortune auprès de VCs qualifiés grâce à un business plan bien lèché

Croissance exponentielle, IPO et retraite sur une ile paradisiaque

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© IMD 2007-2013

La réalité de l’entrepreneuriat

Un petit génie a l’inspiration divineIl lève une fortune auprès de VCs qualifiés grâce à un business plan bien lèché

Croissance exponentielle, IPO et retraite sur une ile paradisiaque

• L’âge moyen au premier lancement

est de 40 ans.• La startup évolue

rapidement et dévie des plans

initiaux

• < 2% des startups lèvent des fonds de

VC• < 27% des sociétés

du Inc. 500 ont écrit un business plan

• < 1% des startups arrivent à l’IPO

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© IMD 2007-2013

L’entrepreneur “moyen”

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com

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Mythe: l’entrepreneur travaille pour lui/elle-même

Investisseurs Clients

Regulateurs Employés

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Mythe: l’entrepreneur gagne plus que son collègue employé

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Mythe: l’entrepreneur a une aversion limitée au risque

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Mythe: 80-90% des startups sont mortes après 5 ans

La mortalité des start-up: Mythe ou réalité? Jonathan Levie, Gavin Don et Benoît Leleux, L’Expansion Entreprenariat 2011

En réalité, c’est souvent une mauvaise interprétation des statistiques officielles:

The new venture mortality myth, by Jonathan Levie and Gavin Don, University of Strathclyde and Benoit Leleux, IMD, in New Venture Creation Handbook edited by Kevin Hindle and Kim Klyver, Edward Elgar, 2009

Disparition dans une grande partie des cas ne veut pas dire échec!

Ventes / Arrêts sans dégâts / Liquidations ordonnées…

Le taux d’échec réel est inférieur à 50% sur 5 ans

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Nurturing Science-based Start-ups –Key Learning Points (1/2)

• It is all about markets and customers. Get your customers involved early and frequently during the development of the new technology.

• Provide early proof of concept. Prototypes talk better than long stories and also help you pinpoints major flaws rapidly.

• Get exposure quickly and repeatedly. Early warnings are better than later ones.

• Adoption is a slow process, even more so in fields based on technical sales. Your sales cycles will be very long, and you will have to finance them.

• There is no such thing as over-focusing. Fine-tune your product/market mix. Strategy is about choice.

• Greed kills with great certainty. Provide (monetary) recognition to your partners, management as well as technologists.

© IMD 2007-2013

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Nurturing Science-based Start-ups –Key Learning Points (2/2)

• In general, customers do not need your solution. They do not want to deal with start-ups. They actually hate start-ups. It comes all back to building trust and credibility.

• Your choice of financial partners (e.g. top-notch venture capitalist, a specialist in your technology) can make the difference between obscurity and a seat at the table. Financing is the ultimate signaling device.

• In growth-oriented companies, financing is not a one-shot process. You will be back at it repeatedly.

• Nothing is set in stone. Your competitors will wreck the best laid plans rapidly. You will need to respond instantly and permanently to evolving market conditions.

• You do not win because of the best plans, or because of the best management team. You win because your competitors let you win. Don’t expect this to happen too often. So luck is indeed important. But luck tends to favor the prepared mind…

© IMD 2007-2013