Many new ventures never use venture capital. So how do they get the money to start and grow their business? The answer lies with the customers. Michael Dell, Bill Gates and Banana Republic′s Mel and Patricia Ziegler all used customers to develop their iconic companies. In this session, Dr John Mullins talks about his pragmatic thinking on business and what entrepreneurs need in the early stages of a venture.

John is one of the foremost business academics and practitioners in the field of entrepreneurship. He has 20 years of executive experience in high-growth retailing firms including two ventures he founded and one he took public. John's first trade book, The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Launching a Lean Start-Up (now 4e, London: Prentice-Hall/FT 2013), has become the definitive work on the assessment and shaping of entrepreneurial opportunities and is widely used by investors and entrepreneurs and in university courses worldwide.

About John Mullins:

John Mullins is an Associate Professor of Management Practice at London Business School. He earned his MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and his PhD at the University of Minnesota. An award-winning teacher and scholar, John brings to his teaching and research 20 years of executive experience in high-growth retailing firms including two ventures he founded and one he took public.

Since becoming an entrepreneurship professor in 1992, John has published four books, numerous cases and more than 40 articles in a variety of outlets, including Harvard Business Review, the MIT Sloan Management Review, and The Wall Street Journal. His research has won national and international awards from the Marketing Science Institute, the American Marketing Association, and the Richard D. Irwin Foundation. He is a frequent speaker to audiences in entrepreneurship and venture capital.

John's first trade book, The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Launching a Lean Start-Up (now 4e, London: Prentice-Hall/FT 2013), has become the definitive work on the assessment and shaping of entrepreneurial opportunities and is widely used by investors and entrepreneurs and in university courses worldwide. His second book, the critically acclaimed Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model (Boston: Harvard Business Press 2009), co-authored with Randy Komisar, a partner at the esteemed venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, was named to "Best Books of 2009" lists by BusinessWeek and INC Magazine. John's newest book, The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance or Grow Your Business with Your Customers' Cash, was published by Wiley in August 2014.

John has done executive education on five continents for a variety of organisations both large and small, including the Young Presidents Organization, Endeavor, the Entrepreneurs' Organization, Kenya Airways, Merck-Serono, the European and African Venture Capital Associations, and the IFC, among numerous others. He has served on the boards of fast-growing entrepreneurial companies in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe and Asia.

About Enterprise Tuesday:

Enterprise Tuesday is a series of FREE evening lectures and networking sessions delivered by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) which take place from November to the end of February in Cambridge. The programme aims to introduce participants to the world of business, as well as to encourage and inspire individuals to pursue their entrepreneurial ambition. It is the most popular non-assessed programme within the University and the model has been adopted by numerous other academic institutions as well as corporations.

Enterprise Tuesday is open to all University of Cambridge staff and students, members of other universities and the local business community. The series is particularly relevant for postgraduate students considering future career paths, those exploring entrepreneurial opportunities and looking to build high quality networks with experts and practitioners.