Define entrepreneurship. Take 2.
entrepreneurship: hey
fortune: hi there!
entrepreneurship: how r u?
fortune: great, off to run with a friend called Opportunity. how have you been?
entrepreneurship: ok, studying for finals
entrepreneurship: btw i met a handsome angel named Preparation in my kickboxing class, he’s from Mykonos and makes the best stuffed peppers in the world. oh and he’s teaching me Greek too :)
fortune: really? niiice
entrepreneurship: yep, let’s hang out sometime… all 4 of us??
My commentary on Inc. Magazine’s article What’s an entrepreneur?:
Warning: this take contains more complex portrayals of entrepreneurship and a few tiny frustrations of mine which may not be suitable for all audiences
Article synopsis: The author challenges the old-school definition: entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled. Fine but then, he makes the black-and-white distinction that entrepreneurs have control of limited resources whereas company employees have limited control of resources.
My take, as provided by my experience, offers a different context.
I’m not an end-all be-all expert, but I know an entrepreneur or two. I also founded a company after long-term employment at three Fortune 500® firms. At one or another point in a career, both entrepreneurs and company employees have: (a) control of limited resources; (b) limited control over resources; (c) limited control of limited resources; or (d) sufficient control over decent resources.
Resources, control, risks, and even personality types are distractions to handle on any career path. They’re not a defining dynamic of entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurs are not inter-galactic masters of opportunity. The author thinks only entrepreneurs cultivate and practice the mysterious process of selling a vision rather than hard incentives. As a true contrarian, I disagree. Both corporations and entrepreneurs offer their team members various shapes and forms of opportunity instead of higher salaries. And opportunity is no stranger to anyone who can appreciate it. I do know both entrepreneurs and employees who seize opportunities fearlessly, admirably, and beautifully…
Entrepreneurship is not a magical concept. Journalists of the world: stop overrating, glorifying, and defining it as such.
As any other choice in life, entrepreneurship is a career path. It’s a talent, but not a natural gift. You have to learn to be an entrepreneur. It’s really just a set of learnable skills. Yes sure, it involves luck too. But that kind of Fortune comes if Opportunity meets Preparation — a must in any undertaking, entrepreneurial or not.
I welcome discussion and debate. Please recommend this article here on Medium. Or feel free to contact me with questions on my tiny blog.
