Growing up, Ken Zolt often felt hindered by his devilish curiosity, but it was this restless creativity coupled with a nuanced understanding of consumer expectations that helped him create companies like Egenera and Heartland Robotics. Ken continues to stretch the boundaries of innovation at the Kauffman Foundation where he mentors aspiring entrepreneurs, teaching them to blend their technical skills with an understanding of human relationships.
How has your restlessness made you a better entrepreneur?
He was restless, he couldn't sit up straight and do his worksheets. He felt like he was missing something and not performing adequately.
Why is accountability important?
His parents taught him that everyone is special and accountable to one another and we are human beings connected in a inseparable way. He thinks it expands to the world of commerce - you are doing business with human beings, you're hiring human beings and understanding what really the connection what's the driving force behind someone's motivation. What energizes them, what excites them and how you can help that person and be reliable for that person---that is the center of any successful business person it also translate to being punctual, being responsive and noticing when things aren't right…making sure the place is well tended to and the people are well tended to.
What questions does a successful Entrepreneur ask?
Regularly asking the question "who cares?" and "why?"
Do not ask why you are special and your technology is so marvelous…How can you help them? What keeps them up at night and what can you do to change that? How are you interacting with that person or organization? What are the complexities of that person or organization that you really need to understand. - there is a form of empathy required with the partners you are trying to interact with
- You have to always want to push yourself to the edge to show your customers what they should want while at the same time not being so dense your failing to listen to feedback from the market.
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