5 Entrepreneurial Tips Drawn from Star Wars The Last Jedi

Originally, I was supposed to start this series of articles on lessons learned from pop culture works with the "Startup" series aired on Amazon Prime.

But during my movie session to watch the latest Star Wars, I couldn't help but find similarities with entrepreneurship, to the point where I couldn't resist writing this one first!

Of course this remains my own reflection, not that of the film's authors, feel free (and you're welcome) to debate it in the comments!

1. The books

"But these are the sacred texts of the Jedi, we can't destroy them!" — Luke
"Have you read them? There's not much instructive in them, and nothing that Rey doesn't already have in her." — Master Yoda

Just like with the Jedi, there are many books which, if not sacred, are somewhat legendary for many entrepreneurs, whether it's "Lean Startup," "The 4-Hour Workweek," or "Steve Jobs' Biography."

Most of the time these books are famous for good reasons, but the message here is that you should never put reading a book above the experience of a flesh-and-blood entrepreneur, or even above your own experience and learning from your failures!

Don't stay buried in books, take the leap!

2. Learning through failure

"Your apprentice will understand your successes and your wisdom, but above all she will learn from your failures!" — Yoda to Luke

I won't dwell on the need to reduce the fear of failure in France, many people talk about it (and much better than I do), sometimes even about the necessity of not going so far as to glorify failure.

What matters to me is not being so afraid of failure that you no longer try anything, and knowing that failures teach us (provided we take a step back from them) a lot about ourselves, our strengths, our weaknesses, and above all humility; a quality that many of us often lack.

Not trying is mostly not risking success!

3. The entrepreneur is not a superior being

"I am not the last Jedi, the Force is what binds us all, it is in every living being and throughout the universe." — Luke Skywalker

The message here is aimed at two different audiences:

• For entrepreneurs, you are not part of a superior race, you are not better than someone else because you're an entrepreneur, don't look down on certain people, remember that we always reap what we sow.
• For future entrepreneurs, the message here is that anyone can become an entrepreneur, there's no special talent, no genius, no physical or mental ability required to start a business, but rather work, perseverance, more work and perseverance, and... a bit of luck to succeed! Take the leap!

4. Knowing how to lose a battle

"We don't win a war by killing our enemies, but by saving those we love" — Rose to Finn

Obviously we're not talking about war here, but about competition, customers, and partners.

Most of the time, an entrepreneur will do everything to land this or that client, whether in competition or not, but there's a need for growth, always more growth.

By not losing a single battle, not a single client, we sometimes lose a lot of things: time for certain overly picky clients, composure for unbearable clients, money for clients who show no consideration.

The message here is to think using the Pareto method (or 80-20 rule, 80% of consequences are said to come from 20% of causes.)

In short, 80% of your revenue is likely caused by only 20% of your clients.

It also happens that 80% of your problems are caused by 20% of your ecosystem (clients, partners, suppliers, etc.)

Know how to say no to a client, a supplier, a partner, a candidate for your own good and the well-being of the team!

Saying yes to everything also means saying yes to all the headaches!

5. Staying focused and not letting yourself get distracted

"Destroy that Poe Dameron, he's only trying to distract me!" — Brendol Hux"
"It was possible 5 minutes ago, but he's too close now!" — A crew member

It's very easy to get distracted, for some people even more than others (I'm one of them), but the best way for a team to reach its goal, to fulfill its vision, is to stay focused.

Be careful, staying focused doesn't mean not having fun, enjoying time spent together and present experiences, but it does mean not letting yourself get distracted and wasting your time on a bunch of competitions or a brand new idea you suddenly want to develop... Entering a competition, like working on a side-project, should only be done if you have time to devote to it and if it's part of the project's strategy, and it shouldn't waste time that could have been used to improve your main project.

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Obviously, don't take everything you've read in this article or in others (or in books) as gospel truth, I simply wanted to share some experiences and mistakes I may have made, everyone is free to draw their own lessons from it!

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