5 TED Talks Entrepreneurs Need to Watch

It’s the beginning of another week and you might find you need a little help starting that fire in your belly. Today, we are going to talk about some perfect TED Talks entrepreneurs need to watch. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) and the talks they host are based around one central concept: “Ideas worth spreading.” Every talk is meant to engage and proliferate ideas amongst the audience. To spread the passion of innovation and knowledge. These five talks are all in the canon of 'Great Talks' to watch when it comes to entrepreneurship. They span the range from personal thought processes to managerial structures designed to create results. Taking even one of these lessons to heart will net you massive benefits.

How to Manage for Collective Creativity by Linda Hill

Our first TED Talk by Linda Hill, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, is for entrepreneurs who are attempting to enhance the performance of their teams. Exploring tactics of the world’s most well-respected companies, Hill discusses the basis for the creative greatness they all exude. In short, the key was leadership. Specifically - a type of leadership focused on nurturing bottom-up innovation. If you are managing a team and looking to understand how best to cultivate an innovative culture, this talk is aces.

The Single Biggest Reason Why Startups Succeed by Bill Gross

This talk by the founder of Idealab, Bill Gross comes in at a svelte six minutes and forty seconds. Idealab is a launch pad for over 100 companies. Bill Gross wanted to know what made some startups succeed while others failed. If both had incredible business ideas, what differentiated the successes from the failures. Gross discusses what he felt were five key attributes to success. He then compares top successes and abysmal failures to see how they ranked up. It isn’t the heaviest lifting, but it illustrates a valuable lesson. Success is almost always dependent on a myriad of complex interconnected factors, not just a single great Idea.

Creative Problem-Solving in the Face of Extreme Limits by Navi Radjou

Navi Radjou is an independent scholar and advisor in leadership and innovation based in Silicon Valley. Originally from Pondicherry, India, he uses that experience to fuel his thoughts on creative solutions. This talk focuses on his studies of hundreds of individuals from India, China, Africa and South America, all innovators and entrepreneurs themselves and their incredible success stories. They churn out amazing inventions despite an extreme lack of resources. If individuals in places like China can develop telemedicine to treat patients in remote villages, what should we be able to accomplish with access to some of the greatest resources in the world? This talk may help you reframe your thinking about what is possible within the limitations your own environment.

Why We Do What We Do by Tony Robbins

This talk from ten years ago may seem outdated but with lines like “That intersection [technologic connection] doesn't always create a view of ‘everybody now understands everybody, and everybody appreciates everybody’” it’s clear that Robbins knew which way the wind was blowing. His goal with this 20-minute talk was to have the audience, meaning us, examine our internal drives. After two talks on principles of success, this one will have you reflecting inward, working to find your motivations. Robbins identifies the six needs of people as well as the decisions that guide them. Chances are, you don’t need to be told to be mindful, but this talk can get that part of your mind working again if it has gone quiet. It is clearly one of the best TED talks for entrepreneurs, business-focused or not.

How to Get Your Ideas to Spread by Seth Godin

"Ideas that spread, win." It is the entire idea behind TED. It is also the moral of the story when it comes to Seth Godin's TED talk. Entrepreneurs will benefit massively from these business - or specifically marketing, ideas. Maybe that's why we like this one so much! Seth Godin is the bestselling author of 18 books, he has a killer blog (no, seriously, go check that thing out it's updated regularly and filled with great ideas, all free!) and he has wealth of knowledge when it comes to this stuff. So it pays to listen.His point: people are predominantly uninterested. No matter how brilliant your idea, how perfect your business. You truly need to stand out and to target the audience who will notice. This talk will help you reframe your thinking when it comes to marketing your product, brand, business - whatever! When you target the massive middle audience, you are attempting to ride a wave. But, by targeting the fringes, the innovators and early adopters who want to listen you are able to create the wave you hope to capitalize on. Check out Godin's whole talk and sell the hell out of your business ideas.Each of these talks delivers something unique for the entrepreneurial minded. Whether exploring better managing or key secrets to success, with these TED Talks entrepreneurs need to look no further. If you haven’t checked them out yet we urge you to do so. If you are more of a reader, transcripts for each can be found on the TED site. They can even be found as audio-only files for listening while you tackle the 800 other things on your to-do list. The point is, regardless of the medium, the ideas here are worth your attention. We at Helix House promise your business will benefit.