Introduction
Exploiting uncertainty is the essence of entrepreneurship.


1. Climbing the North Face
   The higher you aim, the higher you go.
   
   
2. Fear of failure
   You can’t learn to swim by exercising on the beach.
   
   
3. Calibrating opportunities
   If you pick a provincial line, you arrive at a provincial destination.
   
   
4. Timing is everything
   A second bounce usually follows a change in the trend or in the cycle.
   
   
5. Leading a winning team
   Adapt your role to the needs of the firm, not the other way round.
   
   
6. Smart money
   Don’t just raise cash, raise your probability of success.
   
   
7. Ego, intellect and intuition
   Ego is a turbo-charger, not a navigation system.
   
   
8. Chance, perseverance and luck
   Luck is seldom just a matter of chance.
   
   
9. Doing it right
   Principles have a cost, but they are always a bargain in the end.
   
   
10. Exits and entrances
    Succession is a process, not an event.

"Today's entrepreneur does not have to be like 19th Century explorers, heading off into the unknown without a map. This book is a map, drawn from more than thirty years experience."

"There is no single route to success. But in order to have success on a large scale you need to have big ambitions and to connect with a substantial market. If you can do that at the outset, success will come sooner."

"The first bounce of the ball everyone can see. To anticipate the second requires deep understanding of the market."

"The vision attracts and excites the talent; the talent achieves the vision."

"People sometimes only tell you what they are thinking on the doorstep as they leave. In my experience, the last thing to be said is generally the most significant."

"Ego is a turbo-charger, not a navigation system."

"Smart money is far better than cash alone. If you go to a friend, you might get the money. If you go to a leading private-equity investor, you will get the endorsement, the insight, the connections and the expertise as well as the money – and this will bring you a greater possibility of success."

"When you sell 10% of your firm, you sell 100% of your independence."

"The whole of this book is about the application of intellect to business. Intellect positions the long-term interests of the business above short-term personal considerations."

"The exercise of judgement is not a democratic process, it is a leadership responsibility."

"Wisdom leads eventually to fulfilment, which is ultimately about achieving a healthy balance between what you do for yourself and what you do for others. Of all the observations I have made in this book, this is the one of which I am the most certain."

"At the end of the day, you want to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and be proud."

"The most compelling way to effect economic improvement in the long term is to create businesses that pull people out of poverty, and empower them to take leadership of their communities and to take responsibility for their own lives. They then act as role models for others."

"The locomotive is the financial return, the carriages are the social return."

"Social investment is going to be a new asset class. Ten years from now, people will be saying that pension funds, insurance companies and corporations must allocate a certain percentage of their assets to organisations that provide a social as well as financial return."