Weaknesses in a business strategy can often be traced to its underlying assumptions. Guest contributor and Acton alumnus Chris Weaver (’08) shares his own experience recognizing that a client’s commonly held beliefs about its customers were wrong–and had stalled his project and potentially their business expansion initiative.  Identify and Question Assumptions “Know thy customer!” It’s a mantra freshly minted Acton grads chant as diplomas are placed in hands. Without doubt, it’s the song of our people.  However, there exists a related but less-pithy lesson that’s just as important: Identify and question assumptions. If industry experts are proxies for your customers, it’s important // READ MORE

Technology goes hand-in-hand with entrepreneurship and business development, especially in Austin. At Acton many of our new students arrive undergraduate degrees in the computer sciences and, after graduating, even more pursue opportunities in technology fields. They tell us that Acton’s fast and demanding pace, high intensity, competitiveness, and focus on understanding what the customer really needs serves them well once they graduate from our classroom. We recently caught up with three alumni in influential and leadership roles at technology firms, ranging from software startups to a Fortune 100 company. They shared some of their own Acton experiences, their motivations for // READ MORE

Last month Gary Keller–bestselling author, entrepreneur, and friend of Acton–published his latest book, The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, which has since hit the top of the Wall Street Journal bestseller list. The message in Gary’s new book, which he co-wrote with Jay Papasan, resonates with everyone at Acton. It reminds us of the synthesis of many leading entrepreneurial ideas and concepts taught at Acton, relating to identifying key success factors, exploiting the bottleneck, and playing to your personal strengths. Clear and concise, the book provides clear evidence to support Gary’s singular advice, and offers constructive techniques // READ MORE

While they’re enrolled at Acton, students practice making tough decisions and analyzing complex and confusing data day in and day out. They step into the shoes of entrepreneurs in hundreds of real life business cases, including many focused on growing companies and financing that growth. With our “Acton in the Wild” series, we check in every so often with our alumni. We find out how lessons learned at Acton come into play after they’ve left the classroom and see what results they produce in the real world. We just caught up with Rob Larkin (’07), Co-Founder and COO at Daily // READ MORE

The day has arrived, your job interview with a top executive in a high profile company. You’ve got a background in operations, and your credentials are exactly what they’re looking for in a prospective job candidate. You’ve never been the shyest person. In fact, most of your peers would say your interpersonal skills are uncanny, and you’re a great conversationalist. You’ve prepared for the interview, identified your personal brand, and you’re ready to sell it. You walk into the interviewer’s office, and greet him with a hardy handshake. But, you notice your interviewer flinches slightly. You brush it off and // READ MORE

How do you feel about your career? Do you love it? Hate it? Feel ambivalent towards it? If you love it, you’ll probably stick by it. If you hate it, you’re likely to jump ship when opportunity comes knocking. The most dangerous thing to be is ambivalent. If you’re ambivalent about your work, chances are neither you nor the company you work for are producing the value necessary to satisfy each other. Sure, you may produce good work, and the company might pay well, but is that all you want? The bare minimum? Probably not. Listen to Your Inner Thoughts // READ MORE