Harvard Business School
William Sahlman is the Dimitri V. d'Arbeloff - Class of 1955 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. The d'Arbeloff Chair was established in 1986 to support teaching and research on the entrepreneurial process. The Chair honors the late Dimitri d'Arbeloff (HBS '55), whose entrepreneurial skills helped make Millipore Corporation a world leader in its industry.
Mr. Sahlman received an A.B. degree in Economics from Princeton University, an M.B.A. from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Business Economics, also from Harvard.
His research focuses on the investment and financing decisions made in entrepreneurial ventures at all stages in their development.
Mr. Sahlman was co-chair of the Entrepreneurship and Service Management Unit from 1999 to 2002. From 1991 to 1999, he was Senior Associate Dean, Director of Publishing Activities, and chairman of the board for Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. From 1990 to 1991, he was chairman of the Harvard University Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility. He is a member of the board of directors of several private companies.
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Last Updated: Fri, Sep 21, 2007
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, argues that revenue generating business models are the best source of funding and that entrepreneurs should focus on generating income from customers rather than on raising VC funding.
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, asserts that although individuals are important, teams are the central unit of entrepreneurial success. Indeed, Sahlman argues that the reason why many companies succeed is because of the team, not any particular individual, and so entrepreneurs should think carefully about breaking up teams as well as the effect that replacing an individual has on a team.
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, suggests that when raising money, entrepreneurs should carefully select venture investors based on the quality and value of the partnership not funding terms alone. Specifically, Sahlman argues that although all VCs claim to be value-added investors, the entrepreneurs job is to find the investors who add rather than subtract value.
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, observes that almost all entrepreneurs and their ventures must inevitably change and adapt. In all the business plans Salhman has seen, he says that almost every single business has had to change as they discover their customers, their market, etc. So the key to successful entrepreneurship is anticipating and dealing with change.
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, asserts that entrepreneurship is about being opportunity driven: recognizing opportunity in all types of circumstances. Specifically, being opportunity-driven is about looking at a bad situation and turning it around to see the opportunity.
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, states that people, customers, and sales are the critical ingredients of venture success. Specifically, Sahlman states that, 1) having the right people, 2) focusing on customers rather than technology, and 3) concentrating on sales instead of marketing, are critical elements of corporate health and longevity.
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, talks about the four key elements of an entrepreneurial venture: 1) People, 2) Opportunity, 3) Context and 4) Deal. He illustrates with the example of John Osher who developed the spin toothbrush.
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, argues that recruiting good people is hard and while an entrepreneur is bound to make mistakes, fixing those mistakes is critical. Sahlman suggests that interviewing is difficult because of the impetus to assume the candidate is the right fit, but entrepreneurs must expend extra effort to assure they have the right person or it can cost the whole company. And in the cases where a mistake is made, entrepreneurs must be ruthless in fixing that mistake quickly.
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, reflects on three things that helped John Osher, the developer of the low-cost spin toothbrush, succeed. Sahlman identifies three factors: 1) Reflecting on your experience to improve your understanding, 2) Looking at the situation differently to successfully innovate, and 3) Scanning your environment to find new opportunities. 
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, argues that entrepreneurship is not about possessing the right psychological traits, but that it is about a way of managing that is focused on opportunity pursuit, future orientation and relentless execution regardless of the resources one actually possesses. Sahlman emphasizes that relentless execution is the most important part?there are many ideas but what matters is who most successfully executes.
After discussing the four key elements of any entrepreneurial venture (people, opportunity, context and deal), William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, 
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, maintains that entrepreneurs must manage the relationship between risk and reward, illustrating his point with the example of John Osher, creator of the very successful spin toothbrush. Specifically, Sahlman argues that entrepreneurship is fundamentally about decreasing risks and increasing the chances of success?an issue that is fundamentally related to the people in the venture.
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, highlights for critical elements to observe in the process of hiring people: 1) Integrity, 2) References, 3) Attitude and 4) Adaptability. He highlights the importance of seeing through a resume to the core of the person underneath, one way of which is to use your network of contacts to get the back story on an individual.
William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, provides an example of opportunity recognition by relating the story of how John Osher, the creator of the Spin Pop, leveraged his experience into a new market--spin toothbrushes. Sahlman highlights how Osher and his team took their experience and applied it in a new setting by proactively searching to identify a gap in the current market that had potential for high profit.
[From HBSP] 2nd Edition. This text on entrepreneurship covers basic concepts and emerging issues through readings by leading academics and practitioners. These readings portray the entrepreneur as the ultimate general manager, responsible for orchestrating the relationships among all parts of the organization. The text covers every phase of the entrepreneurial start-up, from evaluating opportunities to harvest. Profiles and examples from a variety of companies and fields illustrate the diverse, imaginative ways in which entrepreneurs think and act.