each step of the way.

There's a joy and an excitement of finding a good product

idea to develop.

Every decision matters and has impact, far more so in startups

than in a large corporate environment.

How do entrepreneurial ventures get going?

How do they raise money and manage risk?

How do they build teams and scale?

What distinguishes the companies that

succeed from those that fail?

I'm Bill Solomon.

In my research, teaching, and work with early-stage ventures,

I've explored these questions for more than 30 years.

I'm excited to share what I've learned with you in this HBX

course on entrepreneurship.

You'll learn how to identify entrepreneurial opportunities

and test out ideas.

We ran rapid experiments of the development cycle.

And boy, it saved our bacon.

We found lots of flaws we would have never seen

with our own eyes.

And it turns out, our largest business comes from a surprise.

We'll drill into the process of bringing ideas to market

and managing a startup organization.

The job of any entrepreneur is to take the problem statement

and ask themselves OK, how do I solve

this in a very repeatable, sustainable way

to actually build a real business.

We'll help you understand how to raise capital for your venture.

You'll learn about potential sources of funding.

Venture capital for us was a complete necessity.

I also found that venture capitalists

have incredible networks.

They give you credibility from the get-go

to hire great people.

By the end of the course, we hope

you'll feel confident in your ability

to recognize an opportunity, get access to resources,

and build a successful business.