LEARNING TO BUILD

A breakdown of the key skills needed for entrepreneurs to flourish.

At the beginning of his latest book, Moesta draws a distinction between an inventor—someone who creates something new—and an innovator, who seeks to create a solution to a specific, widespread problem. This broader application is key to his distinction. “Whether you're an entrepreneur, a software developer, or somebody who likes to tinker,” Moesta writes, “innovation is the notion of solving a struggling moment and helping people at scale.” He reflects on some of his own experiences with innovation, including designing a new type of rearview mirror for automobiles, and draws on these stories in order to explain a group of five key skills for innovators and entrepreneurs of all kinds. These involve understanding “causal structures,” “uncovering demand,” “making tradeoffs,” adopting an “empathetic perspective,” and a practice that Moesta refers to as “prototyping to learn”: “People with this skill know that they do not have all the answers and run tests to get empirical data…instead of relying on existing theory and testing hypotheses.” As he details these skills, Moesta consistently employs a highly energetic and vivid narrative style that effectively makes the five skills seem achievable rather than the unattainable ideals that one sometimes finds in business motivation books. On every page, he comes across naturally as a wise and emphatic coach who cuts to the heart of entrepreneurial patter. His thinking on his five key points is appealingly complex, but thanks to his many illustrations (including charts and graphs) and his storytelling clarity, his book never bogs down during explanations.

A powerful and thought-provoking plan for aspiring innovators.