Entrepreneurship in the

Knowledge Era
EDS 211 Lecture
Stephen Oluwatobi
Introduction
• The pain
• The problem
• The Solution
• Why we need Entrepreneurs NOW.
Ages and Era
• Agrarian
• Industrial
• Knowledge
The Entrepreneur’s Challenge
• Starting
• Structure
• Hiring
• Marketing
• Selling
• Focus
• (Venture Capital) Finance
• INNOVATION
Zoom in on Innovation
• Innovation: developing simple solutions to complex problems.
• Doing something that makes existing solutions obsolete.

• In the knowledge era, innovation is the product and brains represent

the capital.

• In the knowledge economy, it’s not about gold mine or oil fields and
reserves but BRAIN MINE.
Innovation
• The era we are in demands that we keep innovating as entrepreneurs.
• Innovation is the ingredient that keeps us still relevant.
• To stay ahead, you have to keep doing something that will render
what others are doing obsolete and useless.
• For instance, the future of energy is renewable energy.
• Some have built empires by trading in oil; they would soon lose
relevance when the market for cheaper and cleaner energy enlarges.
Ice Business– Version 1
Ice harvesting
Ice Business– Version 2
Ice Business– Version 3
Refrigerators
Innovation can be…
• Social
• Economic
• Technological
Sources of Innovation

In the Business Outside the Business

• Unexpected success/failure • Changes in demographic
• Discrepancy • Changes in meaning/perception
• Process needs • New Knowledge
• Changes in Ind/market structure
The Best time to be an Entrepreneur
• It is cheaper to start now than before

• Many tools are available for you to start from where you are with
what you have.

• There are many problems available for you to solve and make
businesses from.
Facts about Entrepreneurship in this Era
The value is not the idea but the
team that is executing it.
It is wiser to invest in a team than
an idea. It’s people that innovate.
An Idea is not a product
A software is not a business.
Multibillion dollar businesses are
made from solving real problems
innovatively.
If you are still afraid of making a
mistake, you will never start.
Go to…

www.dreamgraft.com
… to learn more about entrepreneurship and doing something GREAT
with your life from now.
Am through with my slides

Any Questions?