The Glorification of Entrepreneurship at the Expense of Employees
(Or, Why Your Employees Hate You)
After reading Stefano Mongardi’s article, I was left with a feeling of faint disgust. The article manages to glorify entrepreneurs as global visionaries while casting employees as simple-minded automatons foolishly clinging to their employment benefits. There is even a story of silly girl that thought she should test the waters for her new idea — “a classic” employee move.
This kind of attitude is pervasive among the lore of successful companies (see Jobs, Steve). I think perhaps the only insight to be found in this article is that such self-identified “entrepreneurs” are egotistical risk-takers that view their own contributions as significantly greater than most others. Such a world view is not terrifyingly narcissistic, it is also horribly disrespectful to those peons through whom an entrepreneur’s greatness is effected (also known as “employees,” per Stefano).
Stefano goes on to make a number of pithy platitudes seem like discoveries. My favorites (I’m paraphrasing):
- Entrepreneurs live at work while employees have a quieter life where their work does not follow them home.
- Entrepreneurs see opportunity while employees see risks.
- Entrepreneurs have callings while employees have hobbies.
Entrepreneurial spirit should not be distinct from any characteristics of an “employee” — it is a mindset that human beings share, employers and employees alike. The pompous assertion that there are some sort of valuable and interesting differences between an entrepreneur and employee is really the foundation of discord between the two.
Maybe a more helpful and useful article would focus on what makes a good entrepreneur versus a bad one. I would start with this: A good entrepreneur respects and supports their employees while a bad entrepreneur thinks their employees are simple people destined for servitude.
