Abdouramane Diallo often travels for work. For years, he carried his trusty guitar with him so he could play in his spare time. These days, however, he has replaced the instrument with something else: a copy of Disciplined Entrepreneurship by Bill Aulet, faculty director of MIT Sloan Executive Education’s Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP).
“It is bedside reading for me now,” Abdou notes of the book that is the centerpiece of the highly coveted EDP, which he completed last June. Revealed in the book are the 24 steps that lead to successfully launching and maintaining an entrepreneurial venture, from identifying and creating opportunities to interpreting customer needs, developing a winning business plan, and navigating the venture capital process. All of that knowledge came at the perfect time for Saudi Arabia-based Abdou, who works in trade finance and international trade development for the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, crafting programs to support international trade in 57 countries. And while those efforts continue to be very fulfilling, Abdou was interested in considering his career options.
“I arrived at the point in my career where I was curious about other things,” he says. “To this day, I can see the impact of what I’m doing, but I’m not in control of what I do. When working for large institutions, I am using the resources of that institution to achieve certain aims. However, I want more control over what I’m delivering. I think entrepreneurship is an interesting proposition for me to explore so I can be in the driver’s seat and have more independence.”
The Perfect Opportunity
“I was looking for a program where I could be around other entrepreneurs,” Abdou explains of his search for the right educational program for his needs. One of the first options that popped up on Google was MIT Sloan’s Entrepreneurship Development Program; after reading the prospectus, it did not take him long to recognize the potential of the opportunity. “I was attracted to the simplicity with which the information was presented and how effective it looked,” he continues. “And, of course, the name MIT was very intriguing. I picked it, and I have no regrets.”
Abdou took part in the six-day, 67-person cohort held in June of 2022 on MIT’s Cambridge campus. Having earned two Master’s degrees prior to joining the EDP, he was familiar with many of the business concepts presented during the program. However, he says, “The information is known by everybody who goes business school, so it’s not new in that regard. What’s different is how it is taught. The way it’s introduced is very interesting and digestible, which makes it easy to understand and fun at the same time.”
"What’s different is how it is taught. The way it’s introduced is very interesting and digestible, which makes it easy to understand and fun at the same time."
Upon arrival, Abdou actually had a business idea in mind that he wanted to pursue; in fact, he had already started doing primary market research. However, Aulet and the faculty encouraged the participants to develop completely new ideas during the session so they could engage with the process from beginning to end. “I had to keep that original idea for myself,” Abdou recalls, adding that, although he could not devote his time to the concept he brought with him, he identified several people within the cohort who he knew could be great resources as he moved forward with his primary market research—people he is still in contact with today. And in the meantime, he developed several new ideas to which he could apply the 24 steps denoted in Aulet’s book.
The Future is Bright
Before even completing the EDP, Abdou had already been part of several startup ventures, including a venture in South Africa that involves distributing cooking gas in small quantities with proprietary technology to low income families and a laboratory in West Africa that manages micropropogation, or the cloning of staple plants that are needed in developing nations. He also has ideas for several additional companies in the sustainable space, such as one that would help vegan individuals find food items and products while they are traveling. “There’s a gap in the market and a need there,” he says. “From the book, I know I have to figure out a hypothesis, test it, and go from there.”
Whatever Abdou ends up doing in entrepreneurship, he will attribute his approach to the EDP and the step-by-step procedure he learned during the session. “All of the methods that we are now using in these startup companies come from Disciplined Entrepreneurship for now,” he concludes, noting that he is excited to see where entrepreneurship takes him from here. “Entrepreneurship gives you the freedom to decide. It’s the freedom to have an idea and then try to execute it, to share it with the rest of the world for the benefit of others. That is something that is very interesting to me at this stage in my career.”
Learn more about MIT Sloan Executive Education’s Entrepreneurship Development Program.