Who becomes an entrepreneur? Insights from research studies
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Re: Who becomes an entrepreneur? Insights from research studies
#2The nice thing about this article is it blows some ageist assumptions out of the water. I wasn’t expecting the average founders age to be over 40 in SV.
Re: Who becomes an entrepreneur? Insights from research studies
#3Which just goes to show that all the studies in the world don't mean a whole lot :)
I guess it depends on your definition of "entrepreneur" - does it count if you only found 1 company?
But from where I stand I pretty much fail all the "high probability" criteria, no troubled past, no mental health issues, no previous employment history, no bad-childhood, and do on. Arguably I'm "well rounded" (for some definition of that. Yay!)
So to aspiring entrepreneurs let me say, indicators don't really matter to _you_ as an individual. These are not _requirements_, they are indicators.
Starting a business is not for the faint hearted though. You'll work more hours, probably for less money, possibly for no money, and you'll likely fail.
You need more than just desire, you need a product people want, that they can afford, and you need a way to reach that market. And some luck. Did I mention you'll likely fail?
Success isn't bei g a billionaire, success is keeping the doors open, drawing a salary, employing others in a non-exploitive way, not grinding away every second. Success is taking time off to spend with family, or playing sport, or whatever, just because you can.
To those just starting out I say, welcome to the biggest adventure of all.
Re: Who becomes an entrepreneur? Insights from research studies
#4Which just goes to show that all the studies in the world don't mean a whole lot :) I guess it depends on your definition of "entrepreneur" - does it count if you only found 1 company? But from where I stand I pretty much fail all the "high probability" criteria, no troubled past, no mental health issues, no previous employment history, no bad-childhood, and do on. Arguably I'm "well rounded" (for some definition of…
> Success isn't bei g a billionaire, success is keeping the doors open, drawing a salary, employing others in a non-exploitive way, not grinding away every second. Success is taking time off to spend with family, or playing sport, or whatever, just because you can.
Success is whatever you want it to be. And that, to me, is the point of entrepreneurship: Defining your own success and getting there on your own terms.
Re: Who becomes an entrepreneur? Insights from research studies
#5If you study 10 entrepreneurs you will find 11 different paths they took in their journey. While this is a good read, the advice to everyone looking for the "secret sauce" to starting a successful venture remains the same – there is none. You can try to emulate Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg or whoever else all you want. The moment you idea meets the real world you will be in completely unfamiliar territory with no operating manual and have to just...figure it out.
Re: Who becomes an entrepreneur? Insights from research studies
#6It’s easy to choose a career in entrepreneurship when you either have enough inheritance wealth to not need to work OR living in poverty where there’s not much lower you could drop. For those in the middle, entrepreneurship comes with likely too great a risk to be worthwhile.
Re: Who becomes an entrepreneur? Insights from research studies
#7It’s easy to choose a career in entrepreneurship when you either have enough inheritance wealth to not need to work OR living in poverty where there’s not much lower you could drop. For those in the middle, entrepreneurship comes with likely too great a risk to be worthwhile.
I'm not sure that's true given that immigrants are 80% more likely to start a business than people born in the U.S.[0]. That's the case in almost every country[1].
[0] https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/05/09/immigrants-are-80-more-...
[1] https://hbr.org/2021/08/research-why-immigrants-are-more-lik...
Re: Who becomes an entrepreneur? Insights from research studies
#8If you study 10 entrepreneurs you will find 11 different paths they took in their journey. While this is a good read, the advice to everyone looking for the "secret sauce" to starting a successful venture remains the same – there is none. You can try to emulate Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg or whoever else all you want. The moment you idea meets the real world you will be in completely unfamiliar territory with no op…
The secret sauce is "Make something people want" (YC's motto)
Re: Who becomes an entrepreneur? Insights from research studies
#9It’s easy to choose a career in entrepreneurship when you either have enough inheritance wealth to not need to work OR living in poverty where there’s not much lower you could drop. For those in the middle, entrepreneurship comes with likely too great a risk to be worthwhile.
I'm not sure that's true given that immigrants are 80% more likely to start a business than people born in the U.S.[0]. That's the case in almost every country[1]. [0] https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/05/09/immigrants-are-80-more-... [1] https://hbr.org/2021/08/research-why-immigrants-are-more-lik...
Wouldn't that fit the second criteria since many first generation immigrants don't have the requisite language skills to compete with the native population for middle class jobs.
Re: Who becomes an entrepreneur? Insights from research studies
#10If you study 10 entrepreneurs you will find 11 different paths they took in their journey. While this is a good read, the advice to everyone looking for the "secret sauce" to starting a successful venture remains the same – there is none. You can try to emulate Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg or whoever else all you want. The moment you idea meets the real world you will be in completely unfamiliar territory with no op…
The secret sauce is "Make something people want" (YC's motto)
A lot of times people don't know they want something until it is in front of them.