I know many people that are dyslexic: entrepreneurs, close friends, family members. And almost all of them have suffered from the general perception that dyslexia is a learning disability. Most of them had a terrible time with a school system that generally doesn’t recognize that dyslexic individuals learn differently – which usually results in them struggling with reading and writing, and losing a lot of self-confidence in the process.

Because we look at dyslexia as a learning disability rather than a different learning style, we have consistently overlooked the talents and benefits that come along with dyslexic processing, among others Interconnected reasoning (“the ability to perceive more distant connections”) and Dynamic reasoning (“the ability to accurately reconstruct past events that they didn’t witness or to predict future states”). These talents make individuals with dyslexia especially good at big picture thinking and in particular in dynamic environments. Which makes it immediately clear why many individuals with dyslexia turn out to be amazing entrepreneurs!

If you’re further interested in this topic, you should read “The Dyslexic Advantage” by Brock and Fernette Eide. I hope that it will encourage more people to better understand the unique abilities that are associated with dyslexia and help dyslexic individuals realize their full potential by helping them adjust how they learn. We at Version One are for sure looking forward to backing the most talented entrepreneurs – and dyslexia might actually be a real advantage in this regard!