Nadia Gonzaga's Blog

I thought Professor Michael Roberto’s blog post on entrepreneurs was quite intriguing. His post was based off of an article by The Wall Street Journal that focused on analyzing the question: are entrepreneurs really different from the rest of us?

Professor Roberto pointed out that conventional wisdom says that entrepreneurs are different from everyone else. Why? Entrepreneurs are creative, daring, risk-seekers, ambitious, and are not afraid to make mistakes or fail. We make be inclined to believe that entrepreneurs are way different and better people than the average person. However, the article highlights that there is a major problem with the notion of conventional wisdom: “There is no direct evidence to support it and some solid research to suggest it isn’t true.”

Some questions Roberto raised are: Why has this conventional wisdom dominated our thinking about entrepreneurs for so long? And  why do we believe that entrepreneurs have a different make-up than the rest of us?

In Class 14 on innovation and entrepreneurship, we learned that good entrepreneurs are born with certain traits in addition to the few mentioned above. These include aggressiveness, curiosity, and intelligence. This perspective of entrepreneur characteristics is adopted by plenty, myself included. To me, entrepreneurs always seem very outgoing, lively, and definitely daring. But I disagree with the idea that all entrepreneurs are born with these traits. In contrast, I believe that these traits can be developed as one matures as a businessperson. Individuals can learn so much and develop and strengthen many qualities through training to help them become better in business. I honestly do not think that you have to be naturally gifted with these traits to be prosperous. But why do we believe that entrepreneurs have a different make-up than the rest of us? It is because society bases its ideas on what is seen. People look at the resulting success that famous entrepreneurs have, such as Bill Gates, and develop their perceptions off of them.  People just accept the end results of an entrepreneur’s success and believe that such a level of achievement is unattainable for them. Why has this conventional wisdom dominated people’s thinking about entrepreneurs for so long? I suppose it is because no one dares to question the conventional thinking anyway, even though there is no direct evidence to prove it.

So are entrepreneurs really different than us? I do not think so. Although entrepreneurship requires one to be seriously ambitious and risky, I believe any person can achieve that if they choose to. Plus, it is just our perception of entrepreneurs based on their success and disposition that seemingly places them in a spot above the average individual.

References

Cappelli, Peter, and Laura Huang. “Are Entrepreneurs Different Than the Rest of Us?” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 3 Nov. 2014. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <http://online.wsj.com/articles/are-entrepreneurs-really-different-than-the-rest-of-us-1414965289>

Roberto, Michael. “Entrepreneurs: Are They Truly Different Than Others?”Professor Michael Roberto’s Blog. Blogger, 3 Nov. 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <http://michael-roberto.blogspot.ca/2014/11/entrepreneurs-are-they-truly-different.html>

Y Combinator. “Startup School 2014 Recap and Videos.” Y Combinator Posthaven. Posthaven, 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <http://blog.ycombinator.com/startup-school-2014-recap-and-videos>

Images

Porat, Shawn. Entrepreneurs. Digital image. Entrepreneur Radio. Entrepreneurs Workshop, LLC, n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. <http://www.entrepreneurradio.org/10-business-leaders-entrepreneurs-follow/>

Professor Michael Roberto. Digital image. Professor Michael Roberto’s Blog. Blogger, n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.