 The one-scale every 21st century entrepreneurs must have. Just a century ago, in the days of John D. Rockefeller, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, if you successfully created a product that the market liked, you're rich already. You're not just rich, you're rich for a long period. This lasting success was possible because the world changed very slowly. Today however, in our super-connected information-saturated world, if you launch your creative product today, this time next week, you can be sure that someone or tens of people are somewhere planning your downfall. They have known about your product from another continent and they are willing to create something superior and cheaper and in a few months, you can start experiencing unexpected market battles and if care is not taken, your business may join the rank of Nokia, Yahoo, MySpace and the likes. In this video, I'll be sharing with you an important scale every 21st century entrepreneur must have to actually succeed in the business world of this era. If you're new here, consider subscribing so you won't miss other interesting videos like this. Now, let's get into it. From my experience, the single most important skill you can have as a 21st century entrepreneur is what I call start-up scale and what I mean by that is this. When you're starting a new business, all hands are on the desk. You want to pay 100% attention to the market. You want to know who the major market players are, what their strengths are and what their weaknesses are. You want to know who the customers are, what their taste, wants and complaints are. You want to know the emerging threats and opportunities. You're willing to create product and test to see what the market thinks about them. You're just a babe and you know that you can only survive if you learn. However, if you're in the 20th century, after you succeed, you naturally become unshakable and you can relax. The power we've lost. The reason why big companies could relax and stop trying in the previous centuries are three. One, the high cost of production process. Even in the year 1920, you had an idea to produce a better car. How easy do you think it was to compete with Henry Ford? Yes, you could get some investors to back you. But how easy? Yes, you could start an automobile company. But how easy? Now think of our world today. Yahoo! Yahoo was the king of the internet in the last 15 years. Yahoo was so valuable that Microsoft wanted to acquire them for over $44 billion. Today, where is Yahoo? And how did they die? Yahoo was killed by LittleGoogle, a company that was a babe when Yahoo was the king of the internet. Nokia was the first mobile company to sell a billion phones. Long before Apple was anything in the phone market, Nokia has been reigning. Today, where is Nokia? Facebook killed Myspace and we are waiting for who may kill Google. But why is this happening so fast? Well, David's are killing Goliaths so fast today because it's far cheaper to start a company now than ever before. As you watched this video, a guy from Silicon Valley may be working on a super technology that will allow us to browse the web without the internet. Even if that guy is broke, he has the internet to connect and share his vision with investors all over the world. He could raise a billion dollars next week and if the market really prefers his invention to Google or YouTube, it doesn't matter how much money Google has, that guy would win. Such a thing can hardly happen in the past. 2. The difficulty involved in entering a market As explained earlier, because of the cost of running businesses and the little connectivity among people, it was hard in the past to compete against the giants. Another point I should add here is the fact that you have to go through several regulations from one country to another, from one state in a country to another. The already successful companies of the 20th century had gone through all these and they even had the money and influence to block your way so that you won't get through some government approval. That is almost not happening today. Through the internet, I sell my company's products and services to different countries and continent. I don't have any boundary retractions and by that I can compete, even with the giants. And who knows, maybe I can kill one of them. 3. An imaginable competitive advantage the giants had If you are the Rockefeller in the 20th century, you didn't only have money, you had political influence. Rockefeller will go after stubborn competitors, sell his products at half the price, force the competitors to sell at loss and get out of the market. Today, only a few companies can do that. What you should do today How they have shown you the reasons why big companies in the past could become semi-gods? What should you do if you are an entrepreneur in the 21st century? Very simple, always behave like a startup. Jeff Bezos said, at Amazon, we act like we are startups. If they don't, they will become history very, very soon. These are some specific things you have to do. 3. Thousands of years ago, a philosopher complained about the new generation of people. He thought that they were lazy and didn't keep the custom. Well, that's the same way we feel today. It's natural for people to resent the generation above and below them. If you want to go far, you have to rise above such needless sentiments. You have to be able to work with people who are older than you, but most importantly, you must have a significant percentage of the next generation in your team. Why is this important? Well, whether you like it or not, younger people hold the key to the next revolution. They know better where the world is going than you can ever catch up with. They naturally understand and use the new technologies and products because they are far more adventurous than the older generations. The older you get, the less adventurous you are, so you will miss out on the new trends and technologies. Having young people in your team will keep you updated and you'll be able to see where the world is going and how you can take advantage of the new trends. 2. Study History No, you don't have to go to Harvard for a degree on history. You just have to read books and online resources about the past as related to your industry and the world at large. Why is this important? Well, as an entrepreneur, we have to live in the future and to live in the future, we have to know the past because the best way to know tomorrow is by studying yesterday. Read some history related to your industry and the world. Watch some documentaries, know the past so that you can take advantage of the future. 3. Don't joke with an emerging threat Every now and then, a new startup shows up as Google showed up to Yahoo! Google guys were willing to sell Google for a million dollars but Yahoo wouldn't buy. Not buying isn't the biggest mistake of Yahoo. Taking Google for granted was their costly mistake. Pay attention to the deviates in your industry. Their mission is to kill you. The goliath and some of them may succeed if you let them. If you pay close attention to the deviates and take them serious, you can always outsmart them. 4. Keep it hard with yourself The best way to remain in the business in the 21st century is to compete with yourself and kill some of your products, process and strategies before someone from the outside will kill your business. Let you be your biggest critic and you will win for a long time. 5. Be willing to step aside Old dogs cannot play a new trick If you find it hard to catch up with the trends and technologies of the new world, stay back and let a younger person ride the vehicle of your business. In all, we as entrepreneurs have to understand that it's not business as usual. The world has changed and that has given the deviates more power than ever. So if you struggle to be a goliath, watch your back because some deviates will come after you and if you let them, they will kick you off the market. The only way to stop deviates is for you to remain deviated yourself. Let your start-up spirit remain with you and you will win for a long time. Thank you for watching our videos. We'd like to give you another interesting video for you to enjoy next but before then, our team will be very happy if you can like this video and share it with your friends on social media. If you're new here, don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss other interesting videos like this. 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