The Marshmallow Test, which was done back in the early 1960s by Walter Mischel with 400 four-year olds at Stanford University.
Children were put in a room by themselves with a two-way mirror and filmed. On the table in the room was a marshmallow. The researcher then told each child that, “I’ve got to leave for about 10 minutes. You can eat this marshmallow now if you want. Or if you wait till I get back, you can have two marshmallows when I get back.”
The researchers continued to track these children throughout their school careers and into early adult life. The results were dramatic.
Those who had deferred eating the marshmallow for 15-20 minutes in order to get the bigger prize just a few minutes later were more socially competent, personally effective, self-assertive and better able to cope with the frustrations of life.
As entrepreneurs, the decision to defer eating the marshmallow is a challenge we continually face. Let’s face it; thinking long-term is often an oversight when getting past the next month is the major focus.
Having been a venture capitalist and an entrepreneur over the last twenty years, one observation that is evident today is the environment for entrepreneurs is more favorable than ever.
Think of all the elements of today’s market that didn’t exist ten years ago - cheap computing, low-cost storage, open source software, inexpensive bandwidth, immediate access to customers through the Internet, advertising, etc.
For the first time in history, it is possible for a couple of entrepreneurs to build a services business on the web, launch it, and get profitable in a short period.
More at:http://venturebeat.com/2007/08/23/the-marshmellow-test/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment