The high school teacher turned millionaire drug kingpin story of Breaking Bad's Walter White has something in common with today's economic ecosystem and the burst of entrepreneurship.
This guy portraits the challenge of status quo, the transformation of corporate pawn to a self made entrepreneur wishing to make it on their own, follow their dream and grow to become another R. Branson or simply survive these tough economic conditions. What Walter learns to us is that we must make that life changing decision even though in Walters case, cancer was the motivator but in your case it must be your internal locus of control, the intrinsic motivation that makes you love doing something so as to push the boundaries, to Break the Status Quo.
The next step into entrepreneurship and the biggest problem to a startup is who you choose to be your partner, since you cant do everything yourself. Look it like you're choosing your wife or husband which will be your partner for the rest of the life, do you want to spend the rest of the life with a partner that does not have the same mindset or goals like you, and who you don't respect. Learn from Walter's mistakes with Tuco and Gus, while he made a lot of money from them, sooner or later their relationships ended and so could your partnership end. Be picky at who you choose as your partner, hence he or she may bring your baby (company) down.
Another valuable information that i extracted from this superb tv show and what i'm struggling personally these days is the strive to create the best product or service. What i'm talking about is what Larry Page (Google) lives by, the Moon Shots, his philosophy is when you make something do not improve it by 10 percent,by doing that you are becoming basically the same like everybody else.
Do not settle for less than the best, build something that its going to be 10x better than your competition. Thats why Walter did not rest until he made the best product, neither did the late Jobs which was known to push its company for creating better than "good enough" products, and in the end the results tell it all. Google now is the center for information while Apple products became"must have" items.
Other insights that come from Breaking Bad are to get your hands dirty especially in the beginning, do not be afraid to take risks and do it yourself since that may be your last shot, or even worse that mistake may bring you down so why not do it right the first time yourself.
In addition, Walter's reputation of a ruthless drug lord and excellent chemist is what makes him grow, everybody wants to work with him or get out of his way, which is what you want for your company, a sturdy reputation in the eyes of your partners and customers which makes them work with you or trust their money in your product/service.
Such advices i hear all the time from experienced industry leaders, fortune 500, CEO's, mentors and i want to add to that:
"Get up in the real world, break that status quo, choose your partner right, aim for the moon and don't hesitate to get your hands dirty and in the long run build a sturdy reputation for your company and you will be repaid."
With this post, i start my blog on entrepreneurship, startups and innovation insights in Steemit.
Contribute to what i might have not mentioned or forgot that relates to Breaking Bad's entrepreneurship lessons.