11–20 of 55 posts
Even beyond this core point (not everyone is cut out for entrpreneurship) lies a more important point: society doesn't need everyone to be an entrepreneur. If we assume that there are roughly 150 million Americans in the workforce, we're not better off with 150 million startups than we are with, say, 1 million startups and 149 million workers. We're not even better off with a substantially larger ratio of small to la…
It's also formed to search for a product that resonates with the market. And to search for a capable team. And to satisfy a need by the founders to create something meaningful.
Remove Any of those, and you don't succeed. None are the 'true meaning' of entrepreneurship.
The fact that he repeatedly quotes Eric Ries and Steve Blank makes this article a little hilarious to me as well. I for one am only really interested in hearing stories from actual entrepreneurs who have tried and failed or tried and succeeded. Both are equally interesting to me. Academics who have spent their life in office jobs or espousing theories and quotes about how difficult it is do not interest me. Anybody can write about how hard something is from a hundred miles off the ground, but unless you have actually tried, you don't know what you are talking about. This applies to pretty much anything.
It also seems strange to me that he suggests hopeful entrepreneurs should jump from running a business to something useful, like, learning to code. How original. I have been coding half my life. Coding is a means to an end. It solves some particular problems in one particular way. It is not an end-all be-all panacea that picks you up from poverty and moves you into the upper class. Despite what many people think, particularly in the Silicon Valley startup world, knowing how to code is not required to start a business. It is a trade, just like construction, or plumbing, or welding. The only difference is that coding tools are basically free and relatively new. But the law of supply and demand still governs which products succeed.
I request you to define "fit". How can one know if one is "fit". The line is very blurry I believe, unless there is something that I am missing here.
Not unlike many others here, I aspire to be an entrepreneur too. But after reading this article I am left undecided on what side I "fit" in. Am I not supposed to be doing this? How am I (or others like me) supposed to know? It would really help if there were some questions that we could answer. I understand the answer will not always be yes/no but I have to start somewhere.
The author's main point seems to be that not everyone realizes that chances of success is very very small. But I know that, and I understand that very well. So where does that leave me?
One moment I am absolutely sure I know what I have to do, then I read some article like this and it makes me think. The more I think, the more likely I am to be confused.
Who's supposed to be the gatekeeper for who should be an entrepreneur and who shouldn't? Doesn't the market already do that anyway?
How many startups change their business model when they realize something is not working? Most?
I suppose the only valid thing coming from a business plan is the recognition that you're not hitting your goals, you're running out of runway, and you better adjust course.
Other than that, guessing what your revenue will be 3 years from now and how many employees you'll need to satisfy those mythical customers seems to me to be a colossal waste of time when you could be busy "doing."
Who's supposed to be the gatekeeper for who should be an entrepreneur and who shouldn't? Doesn't the market already do that anyway?
Even beyond this core point (not everyone is cut out for entrpreneurship) lies a more important point: society doesn't need everyone to be an entrepreneur. If we assume that there are roughly 150 million Americans in the workforce, we're not better off with 150 million startups than we are with, say, 1 million startups and 149 million workers. We're not even better off with a substantially larger ratio of small to la…
Small businesses can be inefficient, but so can large companies. Indeed, because large companies are larger, so are their opportunities for waste. Worse, large companies are much more insulated from market forces, allowing them to be wasteful for much longer. And it's literally impossible for anybody to understand what a large company is doing, making it very hard to pursue systemic efficiency.
The real efficiency wins may be somewhere in the middle. Consider the German Mittelstand, a major engine in Germany's economy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelstand
But to get those companies, you have to have a lot of small ones. Everyone might not be an entrepreneur, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't encourage people to try if they feel called. (Not subsidize; encourage.) Worst case is that they learn something about themselves and about business, and those are lessons anybody can use.
it's that if you're talking to an early founder about helping in any way, shape, or form, you are going to get screwed - the question is for how long, and for how much.
is it just going to be your opportunity cost at accepting the wage that you were offered and any other compensation? or are you even going to get paid what you agreed to?
the true dirty little secret to entrepreneurship is downright marxist(3): it's how much value you can steal from your contributors. but wait, why does that work in a capitalist system? everyone sets their own price. Ah, but the thing is, people expect you to at least stick to agreeements. that's how zynga became zynga. (1)
it's like hollywood accounting - how about fifty thousand and five percent of net profits? My last three films each grossed over 500 million. (Author thinks: YES. If this thing makes anything like that, 5% of net profits is going to make me rich. The film grosses a quarter billion, net profit...0..)(2)
zynga is entrepreneurship's dirty little secret.
you can mod me down now.
summary of my whole commment: the dirty secret to entrepreneurship is that it's a sucker's game for a talented developer to come on board as an early non-founder.
Even beyond this core point (not everyone is cut out for entrpreneurship) lies a more important point: society doesn't need everyone to be an entrepreneur. If we assume that there are roughly 150 million Americans in the workforce, we're not better off with 150 million startups than we are with, say, 1 million startups and 149 million workers. We're not even better off with a substantially larger ratio of small to la…
No worries, most people don't want to be entrepreneurs.
Too bad most who try will find out that real entrepreneurship isn't all Yachts, caviar, and a totally flexible schedule. It's harder than being an employee, especially at first.