Why Entrepreneurs Should Think Like Scientists
Startups that formulate and test hypotheses like scientists earn more revenue and pivot away from bad ideas more readily than overconfident peers.
Summary
In a randomized field experiment with 116 Italian startups, Gambardella and colleagues gave one group standard market-feedback training and a second group additional training in building predictive frameworks and rigorously testing hypotheses like scientists. The scientific-method group generated more revenue and pivoted away from unviable ideas more readily than controls, without any rise in early dropout.
Editor's opinion
Interesting founder-decision-process finding, but a 116-firm RCT on individual entrepreneur behavior isn't a firm-strategy insight.
Key concepts
Scientific method for startups · Hypothesis testing · Pivoting