Jeff York, the Leeds School of Business’ Research Director, and Brad Werner, Leeds’ Teaching Director and Instructor, host the podcast Creative Distillations, which takes academic research on entrepreneurship and turns it into actionable insights.

In this episode, Amanda asks Jeff and Brad how they meld their research with real-world experiences – and what practical insights they have to share with new entrepreneurs.

EPISODE QUOTES:

On starting with your customer

Brad Werner (13:02) “If you were to develop a company and you said, ‘Hey, I need a million dollars of investment money.’ And somebody gives you a million dollars and then you go to talk to customers and you find out they don't want it, you're out that million dollars now. Whereas if you say, ‘Hey, you know what, let me talk to some customers first and design for them.’ And you have customers telling you: ‘If you build this, we want this tomorrow.’ Now the investment money actually really does something and it's meaningful.”

On realizing that you’re going to have to pivot

Jeff York (18:58) ​​”It's become this catchphrase. Like, oh, sometimes you have to pivot. I think actually we should be teaching that it's not just something to do when you run into a roadblock. It's where you're actually gonna end up. It's going to happen.”

On leading with your values

Brad Werner (32:27) “Starting a business is a real lift. You end up dedicating your life to it. And so you better be willing to dedicate your life to something that you care about.”

SHOW LINKS:

Creative Distillation Research Podcast

Creative Distillation is co-hosted by Associate Professor Jeff York, our Research Director, and Instructor Brad Werner, our Teaching Director. Each episode distills academic research on entrepreneurship into actionable insights.