Entrepreneurial thinking is the key to long-term success

My book, which I’ve finished the first fill draft of – #fistbump – is focused on helping leaders in non-startups to think and act more like entrepreneurs. I believe that its very possible to ‘move at the speed of startup’ within an established business or nonprofit.

My friend, Gene, interviewed me for his most recent Inc article, 6 Ways Employees Should Think More Like Entrepreneurs. Here’s a snippet:

“Most employees of a company wait to be told what to do and often struggle when roadblocks are presented. If they have an entrepreneurial mindset, they’ll look to tackle those problems head-on and solve the problems creatively.”

This strategy has worked for Dragon Army as the company has become a dominant player in mobile innovation.

“One of the things I see our clients struggle with when it comes to emerging technology is the ability to move faster, iterate more effectively, and generally ‘do more.'” Hilimire stated. Essentially, his leadership encourages people to act more like startup entrepreneurs to innovate and create valuable solutions.

Some of our team members working on our rooftop deck.

We work hard at Dragon Army to remain as entrepreneurial as possible. It might seem easy because we’re a fast-growing, startup-like company, but in fact we fall into the same traps that large corporations do. For example, we’re currently fighting TMM Syndrome (Too Many Meetings). And we’re working to find a balance of enough process to work efficiently and not so much process that we can’t move quickly.

Ultimately, companies (like my favorite Atlanta startup company, MailChimp) that are able to scale rapidly while holding onto their entrepreneurial spirit, have the best chance of long-term success.