I recently came across a Washington Post quiz, published at the height of the dot-com boom, that purports to help you determine whether or not you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
The interesting thing to me is that the way it was skewed assumed anyone “suited” to be an entrepreneur needed to have a pronounced level of cockiness and competitiveness. I disagree. Now, perhaps even the writer who compiled the survey, or the person who originally composed it, has since modified their views, given all that’s transpired in the business world since that time.
But entrepreneurs come in many shapes and sizes, and not every entrepreneur is a hard-driving, venture-capital-funded start-up fueled by audacity, ego, and an intensely competitive spirit. Joel Spolsky, a software developer who writes an interesting blog on various innovation, entrepreneurial and technology issues related to the software industry, wrote a fascinating article in May of 2000 comparing two distinctly different entrepreneurial models. Spolsky labeled the two different approaches “Ben and Jerry’s” and “Amazon.” The Amazon model entrepreneur would fit the Washington Post survey results. But the Ben and Jerry model—which is equally valid—is a slower-growing, grass-roots, organic approach to starting a business. And Spolsky argued that the only really important issue for an entrepreneur was to decide which model their business fit, and act appropriately for that model.
I’d argue that there are any number of variations on that theme; that the two models outlined by Spolsky were illustrative opposites, but that there are many different kinds of entrepreneurs in America. Are there any common traits that I think matter? Yes. Self confidence. A willingness to take some risks. A desire to be in control. A comfort with uncertainty. Self-discipline. Focus. Determination and perseverance. An ability to see what doesn’t yet exist, and believe it can become real. A preference for fulfillment versus security. An optimistic spirit. A creative, innovative, and flexible mind. And, if the venture really going to be successful … a deep and abiding passion for the effort.
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Wow. That’s quite a list of requisite qualities. All of them seem to be right on the mark, but I wonder — if a successful new enterprise requires somebody with all those attributes, then how does any venture ever get off the ground?
I am not speaking from any experience in these matters, nor can I. I have a good friend who is forever launching some new enterprise or other, always in the hope of making money from it of course, and I suppose I form my views on the subject from watching him. He has the drive and determination and optimism you spoke of.. But even so, not all his projects turn out successful. Some do and some don’t. One thing he needs and has is the ability to fold up a particular hand when it is not working out well, and move on to try something elese.
I have an idea that we could think and speak more clearly about entrpreneurs if we had a good English word for it, and not that French one that twists your mouth if you try to say it right. Isn’t’ it odd that the English — whom many regard as the supreme business-oriented nationality in Europe — don’t have a word of their own to describe an entrepreneur? They came close with the word “enterprise”, which derives from the same Frenfh root and has become a common English word with an English accent. Why didn’t they go the logical full step and speak of “an enterpriser”? Is it too late now to bring a word like t hat into use? I hope not.