--- title: The Five Principles of Entrepreneurship description: The Five Principles of Entrepreneurship --- [![Peer Insight](https://blog.peerinsight.com/hubfs/PeerInsight_September2019/Images/peerinsight_logo_white.png)](https://peerinsight.com/) - [ABOUT](https://peerinsight.com/about/) - [SERVICES](https://peerinsight.com/services/) - [TOOLKIT](https://peerinsight.com/toolkit/) - [BLOG](https://peerinsight.com/blog/) - [TEAM](https://peerinsight.com/team/) - [CAREERS](https://peerinsight.com/career/) - [CONTACT](https://peerinsight.com/contact/) [![Peer Insight](https://blog.peerinsight.com/hubfs/PeerInsight_September2019/Images/peerinsight_logo_white.png)](https://peerinsight.com/) - [ABOUT](https://peerinsight.com/about/) - [SERVICES](https://peerinsight.com/services/) - [TOOLKIT](https://peerinsight.com/toolkit/) - [BLOG](https://peerinsight.com/blog/) - [TEAM](https://peerinsight.com/team/) - [CAREERS](https://peerinsight.com/career/) - [CONTACT](https://peerinsight.com/contact/) # The Five Principles of Entrepreneurship by [Tim Ogilvie](https://blog.peerinsight.com/blog/author/tim-ogilvie) | [innovation strategy](https://blog.peerinsight.com/blog/tag/innovation-strategy), [Product and Service Development](https://blog.peerinsight.com/blog/tag/product-and-service-development) I self-identify as an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are people who cause something valuable to come into existence. The classic story involves a garage, ofcourse, but you don’t have to be tiny or self-funded to be one. At Peer Insight, I mostly work with entrepreneurs who happen to be employed by large (often behemoth) organizations. ***Here are my top five principles of entrepreneurship.*** I believe they apply equally, whether you are starting in a garage or leading a corporate venture. - **Know Thyself**: Study yourself through your own eyes and the eyes of others. Get a mentor. Your blind spots will kill your venture, so you’d better know them and fill the gaps with talented collaborators. - **Set Limits**: Define what’s affordable to you (and your family), and don’t go beyond it. I started my first venture in my late 30s and felt pretty flush: I staked $250k of my money in the business and had the ability to work without a salary for six months. I never exceeded those thresholds. For others, the threshold may be six weeks and $6,000, but the principle is the same. - **Lead with Confidence + Curiosity**: Lots of people will say you must always believe in your business, but that will get you in trouble. Always believe in yourself, but have a healthy skepticism about your business. Confidence + Curiosity is resilient, whereas Certainty + Bravado isbrittle. Just say to yourself, *“What I know is valuable, but it isn’t enough to get me to where I’ve never been before.”* - **Embrace Rapid Learning**: You’re entering the unknown. How else will you measure progress?  Learn through in-market experiments. Knowing what doesn’t work is the first step to figuring out what does work. Just doit fast. - **Befriend Your Fear**: Your “ick” feeling has important information encoded. When it shows up, listen to it and take action. In my first startup, I got a bad feeling about a prospective partnership and asked for an additional week to consider it with my board. The partner behaved as if he was insulted. The next week his firm announced a deal with my only competitor – a deal that almost certainly had been in the works while they were digging into my firm’s IP and business plans! Did I miss a principle of entrepreneurship that has made you successful? I’d love to hear it (I’ll embrace it as an opportunity for rapid learning!). # About Us Peer Insight helps organizations ignite growth by uniting design, business, and entrepreneurship. [info@peerinsight.com](mailto:info@peerinsight.com) ![VOSB](https://blog.peerinsight.com/hubfs/PeerInsight_September2019/Images/vet-owned-300x300.png) # Find Us **Washington, D.C.** 717 D Street NW 2nd Floor Washington, DC 20004 (202) 506-3804 **San Francisco** 595 Pacific Ave 4th floor San Francisco, CA 94133 (336) 430-5403 # Get in Touch For project inquiries, contact [Clay Maxwell](mailto:cmaxwell@peerinsight.com) or [Tim Ogilvie](mailto:togilvie@peerinsight.com) For media inquiries, contact [Natalie Foley](mailto:nfoley@peerinsight.com) We respect your privacy. - [Privacy Policy |](https://peerinsight.com/privacy-policy/) - [ Terms & Conditions](https://peerinsight.com/terms-and-conditions/) - - -