“The rules of the game have been rewritten” exclaimed Luke Johnson in the Financial Times.

The world of business has changed dramatically since the 1980s, and the rules of the game have been radically rewritten……An important factor has been the all-pervading influence of the internet. ……Various consequences flow from this digital revolution that affect the very nature of a business. It means you can test an idea quickly and cheaply and, if the trial does not work, you can reinvent it or just shut it down.

24 hours after reading this, I found myself mentoring a very talented young lady, who intends to take her hightech company global within 24 months. When I say talented, she has had a great career to date in the arts. As for her firm, despite a struggling website, they have generated some initial income.

This lady is very serious. She has already started and sold a couple of small (non hightech) enterprises. Like Master Zuckerberg, and she is only a few years older than him, she has hit on a simple idea. And it seems that nobody is in that space, yet. 

What is she lacking? A little bit of initial guidance and a small amount of financial backing to support site design and promotion. Initiative and determination, what you are not taught at Harvard Business School, are in no short supply.

Luke Johnson referred to Mark Zuckerberg, as an example of somebody, who “can create a 500m-strong community with Facebook – employing just 1,000 staff. Facebook is also an example of how investors are willing – in certain circumstances – to back projects that have minimal revenue, following a belief that a lucrative business model will emerge in due course, as it did with Google.”

I often set homework, and this time I pronounced a two hour assignment. I told her to watch the film, Social Network.