5 Tips for Generating Breakout Opportunities

Reid Hoffman, investor and co-founder of LinkedIn, and Ben Casnocha, entrepreneur and author, share valuable tips on cultivating and seizing make-or-break opportunities.

Success begins with opportunities. But not just any old opportunity will do. Entrepreneurs don’t just start any business; they seize the great business opportunities. Success for a startup is all about seizing those unusually consequential opportunities — those breakthroughs, deals and discoveries that rocket their company forward at an accelerating rate of growth.

Careers, like startups, are also punctuated by breakout opportunities. Our professional lives are not a sequence of equally important jobs. There are always breakout projects, connections, specific experiences and, yes, strokes of luck that lead to unusually rapid career growth. Here are some tips for finding and generating those kinds of breakout opportunities.

Why Your Business Should Be Telling Stories

Colin Shaw

CEO, Beyond Philosophy | Leading Customer Experience consultancy | Author | Training | Research | Keynote speaker

“Once upon a time….”

These words conjure images in our mind. We tell our children the story of the ‘boy who cried wolf’ to get over the message that if you lie, then eventually people won’t believe you when it is critical they do.

No matter what religion you follow, the holy books are filled with moral stories that attempt to shape your thinking and therefore your actions.

Never underestimate the power of a great story. However, in business we seem to underestimate its worth. Businesses tend to focus on processes and numbers, not stories and experiences. Over the years I have learnt the power of a story to get over messages to help organization’s improve their Customer Experience.….