????從服裝交換服務(wù)公司thredUP到網(wǎng)站優(yōu)化服務(wù)公司CloudFlare，哈佛商學(xué)院（Harvard Business School）最成功的初創(chuàng)公司秘訣是什么？這些公司的創(chuàng)始人都會指向同一個人：哈佛資深創(chuàng)業(yè)教授湯姆?艾森曼。由他開設(shè)的著名“科技初創(chuàng)公司創(chuàng)業(yè)培訓(xùn)班”幫助大批創(chuàng)業(yè)者找到了發(fā)展方向，協(xié)助他們實現(xiàn)了自己的創(chuàng)意。艾森曼是哈佛商學(xué)院洛克創(chuàng)業(yè)中心（Rock Center for Entrepreneurship）的聯(lián)席主席，而這個中心則是新創(chuàng)企業(yè)的核心，負責(zé)組織求知若渴的學(xué)生參觀硅谷和紐約，親身體驗美國的創(chuàng)新中心。

????艾森曼看上去像是一般穿著斜紋夾克的高等學(xué)府教授，但他在一線創(chuàng)業(yè)實踐方面的知識卻為他在學(xué)術(shù)界之外贏得了大批忠實的追隨者。而在課堂上，艾森曼對學(xué)生真正的興趣又讓他顯得與眾不同。學(xué)生的創(chuàng)意陷入混亂時，他會為他們指明方向，而對于無法親自來聽他授課的學(xué)生，他會把重要商業(yè)人士的名片轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)給他們。艾森曼以其開放、明智的建議著稱。在接受社交網(wǎng)Poets&Quants采訪時，他分享了自己對于創(chuàng)業(yè)的見解，包括MBA學(xué)生最常犯的錯誤，史蒂夫?喬布斯效應(yīng)，以及他聽過的最糟糕的創(chuàng)業(yè)點子。

????Poets&Quants：您的學(xué)生對于創(chuàng)業(yè)有哪些最常見的錯誤想法？

????湯姆?艾森曼：我認(rèn)為，在課堂上，我們可以討論創(chuàng)業(yè)有多么艱難，以及對于創(chuàng)業(yè)認(rèn)識的一些歧義，但學(xué)生很難理解。在大多數(shù)工作中，會有人給你分配工作。但身為創(chuàng)業(yè)者，你必須自己來決定未來的發(fā)展方向，否則可能寸步難行。就拿這種觀點來說，也完全可以有各種解讀，這都取決于你自己。

????此外，我認(rèn)為，學(xué)生對他們在推銷中的情緒波動和需要投入的時間認(rèn)識不夠。在推銷的教學(xué)方面，大多數(shù)MBA課程做得并不好，包括我們哈佛商學(xué)院自己的課程在內(nèi)。而在創(chuàng)業(yè)過程中，創(chuàng)業(yè)者必須不斷向新員工、投資者、客戶和合作伙伴進行推銷。但我們在這方面做得并不好，沒能吸引學(xué)生對此給予足夠關(guān)注。所以，當(dāng)學(xué)生準(zhǔn)備創(chuàng)辦公司的時候，他們并沒有意識到自己需要進行多少次推銷，他們要一次次地站到人們面前。任何推銷都會遇到拒絕，所以，如果十次有九次遭到拒絕時，創(chuàng)業(yè)者的心中便會產(chǎn)生各種復(fù)雜的情緒。

????我們可以告訴學(xué)生失敗的幾率是多少，但統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)是一回事，親身經(jīng)歷則是另外一回事。許多人認(rèn)為，自己將是創(chuàng)造奇跡的那個人。我想，有信心總歸是好事。從根本上而言，我們需要創(chuàng)業(yè)者心存一點妄想。

????Ask any of the founders behind Harvard Business School's most successful startup -- from clothing swap service thredUP to website optimizer CloudFlare -- and they'll all point to a single key to getting a business off the ground: Tom Eisenmann, Harvard's veteran entrepreneurship professor, whose legendary Launching Technology Ventures course has helped legions of budding entrepreneurs find their focus and bring their ideas to fruition. Eisenmann co-chairs HBS' Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, the campus' nucleus for new ventures, and leads trips to Silicon Valley and New York for students eager to experience America's innovation epicenters firsthand.

????While Eisenmann looks the part of the tweed-jacketed, Ivory Tower professor, his knowledge of cutting-edge startup practices has won him a dedicated following that extends far beyond academia. But in the classroom, Eisenmann's genuine interest in his students sets him apart. From nudging them in the right direction when their ideas are out of whack to slipping business cards to those who couldn't get in his classes, Eisenmann is known for his open door and sage advice. In an interview with Poets&Quants, he shares his insights on entrepreneurial MBAs' most common mistakes, the Steve Jobs effect and the worst idea he has ever heard.

????Poets&Quants: What are the most common misconceptions your students have about launching startups?

????Tom Eisenmann: I think we can talk in class about how hard it is to be an entrepreneur and the ambiguity of it all, but it's hard for them to understand. In most jobs, somebody gives you work. But if you're an entrepreneur, you must decide what's going to happen or nothing will happen. It's this notion that there's total ambiguity, and it's all up to you.

????I think they also underestimate the emotional ups and downs and the amount of time they're going to spend selling. Very few MBA programs, ours included, do a good job of teaching sales. And in entrepreneurship you are constantly selling to a new employee, investors, customers, and partners. But we don't teach it very well, and people aren't drawn to it. So when students are about to launch, they don't realize how much selling they're going to do and how much they are going to have to put themselves in front of people over and over again. In any kind of sales, there's a lot of rejection, so there's a lot of emotion that comes with being told 'no' nine times out of 10.

????We can tell students what the failure odds are, but it's one thing for people to know the stats, and it's another to actually feel it's going to be you. A lot of people think they will be that one person to beat the odds, and I guess that's good to have that confidence. Basically, we need people to be a little delusional.