The internet has made it easy for anyone to learn from anyone else in the world. We have more access to information than ever before and, luckily for startup founders, some of the world’s brightest minds have shared their ideas online. Whether you’re looking for books about product design or insights about product management, there’s something for everyone.
Some of our favorite resources for gaining insight about startups, technology and innovation are TED Talks. These short videos simplify complicated concepts and bring intriguing ideas to life.
Here are five of our favorite TED Talks for startup founders.
Take some time to watch these—you’ll thank me later.
Bill Gross: The single biggest reason why startups succeed
As an entrepreneur, adviser and investor, Bill Gross has helped create hundreds of different businesses. In this video, he shares his research on some of the most successful and unsuccessful startups from the last few years and the factors that determined these startups’ success or failure. The most important factor? Timing. The least? Well, it might surprise you.
Ricardo Semler: How to run a company with (almost) no rules
Almost four decades ago, when he was just 21 years old, Ricardo Semler took the helm of an old Brazilian conglomerate, Semco, with the intent of trying something new. His approach was built on the idea that less management and more flexibility would result in better shareholder returns and workplace culture. He allowed employees to design their own jobs, define pay levels and select their supervisors. It was a revolutionary approach—and extremely successful. In this TED Talk, he dives into why it worked.
Derek Sivers: How to start a movement
This is one of the shorter TED Talks on this list but also one of the most frequently shared—and for good reason. It’s a simple story about the steps that lead to a movement happening within a group or culture. Derek Sivers highlights the important elements and people involved in creating a movement while offering insight to startups and founders on how they can ignite movements of their own.
Roselinde Torres: What it takes to be a great leader
For founders, leadership skills are vital to creating a great team and a successful business. In this talk, Roselinde Torres dives into some of the lessons she’s learned while observing the behavior of leaders for more than 25 years. Specifically, she talks about lessons gained from studying the habits of people like Nelson Mandela and the founders of nonprofits, who can create great value from very little.
Elon Musk: The mind behind Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity
Over the last few years, we’ve seen very few entrepreneurs achieve the kind of success attained by Elon Musk. He’s launched multiple successful businesses and has created two startups with a valuation over $1 billion. In this interview, we get the chance to learn a bit more about the way Musk approaches problem-solving and how he views the future.
Wrapping Things Up
There’s no question that there are plenty of other great TED Talks out there for startup founders and entrepreneurs, but these five are some of our favorites. If you have a TED Talk that you’ve watched more than once as a source of inspiration or insight, I’d love to hear about it.
Send us a tweet @MindSea or leave a comment below. We’re always interested in finding more TED Talks worth watching.
