Domain expertise

Conventional wisdom has it that you should only work on what you know.  As in what you studied in college and/or gained experience in through your jobs. This is especially true for entrepreneurs - 'domain expertise' is expected in founders.

But entrepreneurs are also advised (pushed)  to 'follow their passion'.  And the reality is that not everyone recognizes their passion early on.  Or if they do, they are not able to indulge it and they settle instead for jobs they're good at - maybe to pay off the monster college debts they racked up studying 'marketable' subjects that they were not so passionate about.

So what's an entrepreneur to do when she discovers the passion for an area that she has no direct experience in?  In a previous post, I'd written about how it is important to get to know the area well if you are going to build a company around it and suggested various steps that you could take.  And a few days ago I met an entrepreneur who exemplifies the commitment to doing what it takes to make that shift successful.

CK12 has been getting a lot of attention in education and tech circles for making the promise of online textbooks a reality, and, most importantly, an affordable reality.  But what is less known is how the founder Neeru Khosla went about starting CK12.   Her background was in biology, not education.  Neeru was involved in leadership roles in various non-profit efforts until she decided to jump into the digital textbook revolution and make online textbooks readily accessible.  But before she did that, Neeru joined a Master's program in education at Stanford University.  I had the opportunity to chat with Neeru at an event last week and I asked about her experience.  It was 'very hard' she said, understandably.  It is no cake-walk to get back into college when you've been out of it for a couple of decades or so, especially for a demanding program.  'So why did you do it?' I asked.  Her answer: it got her involved with people in education. 


The organization is well established now and there are millions of views of the textbooks on CK12.  It got there because Neeru was willing to do the hard stuff and didn't let age or lack of domain knowledge stand in her way.  And that's one of the defining characteristics of entrepreneurs - they do not shrink from tackling the difficult, challenging, out-of-the-ordinary things that are needed to make their ideas reality.  Living your passion takes commitment!

Moneyball entrepreneur

Ok, that title's a tease.  It's really about the quotes from the movie Moneyball (based on the book of the same name by Michael Lewis) that Dharmesh Shah connects to lessons for entrepreneurs in his entertaining and insightful blog post.

There are 17 quotes in the post, but my favorites are #6 and #17.

• #6 - Your goal shouldn't be to buy players, your goal should be to buy wins.  When you're early in the game you think having the 'right' (aka experienced) people in roles (VP, CMO, whatever) would make life easier, and often it is with the goal of getting funding, instead of doing the work that needs to be done.  I relate to this because I was advised to get 'names' and spent quite a bit of time trying to do that, but realized that it just didn't click, and that I'd rather have someone with smarts and enthusiasm to do what needs to be done.  And that helped me focus too (#2 on the list).
• #17 - We're going to change the game.  The goal has to be something worthwhile to make you want to stick with it through all the uncertainty and set-backs.  It's the passion for something bigger that will fuel you through the downs until you get to the ups. 

The Moneyball mantras are for socially-focused ventures too.  "It's about seeing something that's not quite right in the world, and deciding you want to fix it."   Education and health are two areas where there are a lot of initiatives started by people who see problems and want to do their bit to fix them.  These two areas also have a lot of entrenched belief systems (as in Moneyball) that are getting seriously shaken by new players who are willing to 'think different'.

Even if you don't love Moneyball (as I do), check out Dharmesh's post here - it is thought-provoking for entrepreneurs and just about anyone who's wants to do something of impact (and it makes you want to have Billy Beane on your team!).