In this instructional talk, Chris Haroun explains how aspiring entrepreneurs can discover and validate a startup idea by first creating a thorough business plan. He stresses that “failing to plan is planning to fail,” noting that most companies that skip a detailed plan end up failing. Haroun describes his MBA Venture Capital boot camp, where students use an extensive Excel‑based template that forces them to answer hundreds of questions, dramatically lowering the risk of failure. He advises entrepreneurs not to spend any money on the venture until the plan is complete, and then to seek other‑people’s money (OPM) from high‑net‑worth investors through networking techniques taught in his program. Finally, Haroun emphasizes that passion should drive the venture, not the pursuit of money; he cites Elon Musk’s Mars colonization goal as an example of purpose‑driven entrepreneurship, arguing that chasing dreams leads to success and the money follows.
Chapters
How do you find a startup or business idea? I want to do something on my own. Yeah. The first thing I'll say is that failing to plan is planning to fail. And so most people don't write a business plan and most companies fail. And so what I recommend doing is writing a thorough business plan. Okay? And in my MBA degree program in the third semester, we actually have something called the Venture Capital boot camp. All right, I'm a private, not a sergeant, but we have something called the Venture Capital boot camp. And that's where I help my students create their own business plan. And I have them answer a gazillion questions. Right? It's all in one of my Excel templates so that the risk of them failing goes down materially. And the way you know that you have a good business plan and a good business model is if you finish your business plan. Because I've written a bunch and I haven't finished most of them because I realized throughout the process why the idea sucks. And I also recommend my students don't pay a penny for anything for the startup until they finish the business plan. And even then, I want them to get OPM or other people's money, high net worth people to invest. And I teach it from a networking perspective in my MBA program. Also how to get these high net worth investors. Yeah, failing to plan is plan to fail. You gotta write the business play first and make sure it's something you're passionate about. And don't just do it for the money. I know that we all need money to live. I get it. But there has to be a point in our lives when we're older, whatever that we say, enough is enough, ear muff time, enough is enough. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being someone else's bitch. I want to empower my students, you know, to work for themselves, to start their own companies or to change careers and do what you're happy doing. Because I really do believe that if you chase money, you lose your dreams and your money. But if you chase your dreams and you don't give a damn what anybody thinks of you, if you chase your dreams and you fail a bunch of times, which you should fail fast, then something wonderful happens. Your dreams come true and the money follows accidentally. It always does. Nobody that's put their dent in the universe, so to speak, has done it just for the money. They've done it because they're passionate about the industry. Elon Musk is passionate about colonizing Mars. And if anybody else said that you'd think they're crazy. But for him, he's a genius. Follow your heart and this will work much better.
