Key insights for an entrepreneur from the book, Beyond Entrepreneurship

A friend and mentor of mine told me the book that had the biggest impact on his entrepreneurial journey was Beyond Entrepreneurship by James Collins and William Lazier.

I devoured this book, and I suggest you do the same.

Among other things, the book goes deep on a company’s value, purpose, vision, and strategy. Years ago I created a format for this at Dragon Army, called our Vision, Tenets, and Values (VTV).

I feel really good about these three aspects of our company – our vision shows us where we’re headed, our tenets show us how we’re going to get there, and our values guide us along the way – but the missing piece (which I’m working on) is our purpose.

In the book, the authors lay it out like this:

Values last forever.

Purpose lasts ~100 years.

Vision can change (every 5-15 years).

Strategy changes annually.

I love the simplicity in that. Our current vision – to be the best mobile partner in the world – will surely change, and I’m comfortable with that. Likewise, our tenets (or ‘strategy’ as defined in this book) will change more frequently. But our values – Team First, Think Positively, and Have Fun – will last through the entirety of Dragon Army.