Why entrepreneurial thinking may be the most desirable skill set in a rapidly changing world.
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Watching newcomer founders pitch this week reinforced something I have learned after founding businesses in three countries and working across more than 30: entrepreneurial thinking is one of the most transferable skill sets a person can develop.
This week, I joined the feedback panel for the Forward Inc “FI” Demo Day in the Netherlands. Newcomer and refugee founders pitched early-stage concepts spanning mental health, sustainability, education, community support and wellbeing.
Like many people working around entrepreneurship and migration, I expected to see resilience, determination and creativity. And those qualities were certainly present. But what stood out most strongly was something else: transferable strategic capability.
Entrepreneurship is so much more than “starting a business”. In reality, entrepreneurial thinking is a toolkit for life – handling uncertainty, identifying opportunities, communicating ideas and building momentum. Working with what you have, under imperfect conditions. Increasingly, in our world of rapid change and uncertainty, these are life skills.
After 20 years (yikes) working across different countries, sectors and institutional environments, I have experienced the benefits of a self-starting mindset, and I’m beginning to think that it’s a key factor for success in many aspects of life, especially on the move.
Recognising opportunity: a valuable professional skill
Many of the founders presenting were solving problems they understood deeply through lived experience:
- mental health and burnout support
- refugee access to higher education
- community connection
- sustainability and food systems
- practical support for customers navigating unfamiliar systems
The strongest concepts did not necessarily have the most polished pitches (though communication skills are a core part of leadership – more on that here). They were the ones who could clearly explain:
- what problem exists,
- who experiences it,
- why existing systems are not solving it,
- and why their approach could work differently.
That ability to identify unmet needs is valuable for startups, but also far beyond. It’s a skill that you can use in communications, programme management, leadership, consulting, policy, fundraising, and organisational strategy. Just for starters!
One founder, for example, was building support around burnout prevention. Another was focused on improving pathways into higher education for refugees. Another was exploring community-based education models. Different sectors, different audiences, and different models. But they are underlined by the same ability: noticing where systems are failing people, and designing something better.
That is entrepreneurial thinking.
Side note: this type of thinking is common in many NGO founders, not just for-profit enterprises. I sometimes find it surprising how much we segment startups, social enterprises and NGOs into different buckets – they are all initiatives providing a value transfer, and the skillset needed for founding each type is similar.
Commercial thinking is the most useful skill
One of the most useful lessons of entrepreneurship is that good intentions are not enough on their own.
Many early-stage founders understandably focus heavily on mission, visibility or awareness. But the ventures most likely to survive are usually the ones that become clear very quickly about:
- who pays,
- why they pay,
- what differentiates the offer,
- where partnerships create leverage,
- and how the model scales beyond the founder’s own energy.
This came up repeatedly in the feedback discussions. This is not about ‘getting rich’ (at least, not for everyone). But any organisation is doomed if it doesn’t have the money to operate.
In my feedback I shared that some founders needed a clearer definition of their user – it is tempting to target too many different client groups at once, but as we multitaskers know well, splitting yourself too many ways just results in a loss of impact. Others needed stronger partnership strategies, clearer revenue pathways or more repeatable delivery models. All great areas to focus on early in your entrepreneurial journey.
Before I founded a business I would have been terrified of the idea of a revenue model. Now I’ve made so many, I can even coach others on how to use and develop them. Though I remain fundamentally motivated by impact, I see revenue as an essential part of mission-driven work. It’s the difference between a project that survives for six months (already an achievement, sure) and one that changes lives for many years.
Entrepreneurship develops the habit of asking difficult but necessary questions:
- Is there demand?
- What alternatives already exist?
- What makes this distinctive?
- What assumptions are untested?
- Where is the real bottleneck?
- What would make this scalable?
Those questions are useful in almost every professional environment, and a great value-add for managers.
Even more so, in uncertain times
The modern labour market is becoming less predictable. AI is reshaping knowledge work, institutions are under pressure, migration is changing labour markets, and many career paths are becoming less linear. Who knows what jobs will look like in two years, let alone 10?
In that environment, entrepreneurial skills become increasingly valuable, even for people who never intend to create their own companies.
The founders at Demo Day demonstrated capabilities that employers, organisations and institutions increasingly need:
- adaptability,
- resilience,
- systems thinking,
- networking,
- strategic communication,
- prioritisation,
- negotiation,
- and rapid learning.
I’ve led my team at AMS for 11 years, with our now network spanning 30 countries. This experience has taught me that the ability to learn quickly and reposition yourself matters far more than having a perfectly planned career path.
People who continue creating opportunities are often the ones who can observe, adapt and communicate effectively under changing conditions. And that is entrepreneurship too.
…and finally
The most impressive thing about the founders at Demo Day was not simply that they had committed to their business ideas. It was that they had already developed highly portable capabilities that will serve them across their current concept, but also for whatever else life has in store for them next.
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AMS is a global communications agency that helps NGOs, foundations and social enterprises use messaging to harness their influence and achieve their mission. We combine senior strategic counsel, world-class delivery and a purpose-driven, human-centred approach, to strengthen your team and build sustainable in-house capability. We support organisations operating in complex international environments where adaptability, strategic positioning and clear communication are essential for growth. To find out more, get in touch with us today.
