In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, speaks with Lori Rosenkopf, Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and author of “Unstoppable Entrepreneurs: 7 Paths for Unleashing Successful Startups and Creating Value through Innovation”. Their conversation covers how to succeed and persist as an entrepreneur and what it takes to bring innovation to fruition, including case studies from Madison Reed, Nokia, and Square. 

Key Takeaways: (Add description and time codes)

0:00 Meet Lori Rosenkopf: Author of Unstoppable Entrepreneurs 

00:59 Columbia to Wharton: Two Scholars' Parallel Journeys 

3:31 The Six R's That Make Entrepreneurs Truly Unstoppable 

4:12 Passionate vs. Pragmatic Entrepreneurs: Two Different Paths to Success 

6:55 Recombination: Why Most Successful Innovations Are 90% Familiar, 10% New 

8:20 "Unstoppable" vs. "Resilient" – The Psychology Behind Entrepreneurial Persistence 

10:29 Madison Reed: Disrupting the Hair Color Industry 

13:38 The Bootstrapper's Advantage: Why 80% of Enterprises Avoid Outside Funding 

15:36 The Shocking Truth: Only 0.5% of Businesses Take Venture Funding 

19:23 Intrapreneurship: How Jackie Reese Built a Bank Inside Square 

22:06 The Innovation Arms Race: How Entrepreneurs Drive Corporate Change 

23:21 Nokia's Surprising Pivot: Life Beyond Consumer Phones 

24:52 From Bell Labs to Co-Working Space: The Evolution of Corporate Innovation 

26:28 GenHERation: How COVID Transformed a Bus Tour Into a Thriving EdTech Platform 

28:48 Beyond Profit: The Cultural Value Entrepreneurs Create for Society 

32:49 Technology Commercialization: Bringing Life-Changing Ideas to Market 

35:41 Harlem Capital: Transforming VC Funding for Underrepresented Entrepreneurs 

38:31 Search Funds: The Little-Known Path to Business Ownership 

40:24 From Funeral Homes to Tech: Unexpected Acquisition Opportunities 

43:46 The Real Age of Successful Founders: Why Most Entrepreneurs Aren’t 22-Year-Olds 

44:48 Inside Wharton’s VentureLab: Building the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs 

49:43 AI’s Impact on Jobs: Why Entrepreneurial Thinking Is More Important Than Ever 

53:47 How Top Entrepreneurs Navigate Innovation: Risk Is Not an R 

54:47 The Madison Reed COVID Pivot: From 12 Stores to 100+ Through Contrarian Thinking 

56:09 The Next Chapter: Promoting Unstoppable Entrepreneurs and Its Message 

57:52 Breaking Free: Why Entrepreneurship Can Be More Stable Than Corporate Life 

Thought Sparks are the brainchild of Rita McGrath. They are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence. 

New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every other Tuesday at 11am Eastern. 

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