Susan Weiner started a business that developed customized training programs for Americans doing business with Japanese companies. The idea came from her experience in trying to help the members of her previous firm adjust to dealing with the Japanese. It developed out of previous work I had done. Entrepreneurs with prior corporate experience benefit because the organization, in effect, functions as a learning laboratory. Learning the ins and outs of a field of business, acquiring the skill to deal successfully with problems and people, gaining managerial savvy, and acquiring the confidence are all part of the real world education.
Corporate experience confers other advantages, too.
They pumped a lot of money into me as a manager. Even bad organizational experience produces valuable lessons. One investment consultant recalled being pressured by her former firm to increase the turnover in customer accounts so that the company would earn more commissions. Frustrated and appalled because the interests of her clients were not well-served, she began to explore the possibility of opening her own business. She learned to avoid the limiting effects of bureaucratic routines.