VC Fred Wilson was interviewed by a reporter on Monday, on the topic of what makes an entrepreneur, and entrepreneur. Read his post, but these 3 exchanges in the Q&A make for a nice Thought for The Day:
Q: What is entrepreneurship?
A: It’s the art of turning an idea into a business.
Q: Can entrepreneurship be taught/learned?
A: I don’t think so. It’s like a personality disorder. You are born with it.
Q: What do you look for in entrepreneurs?
A: First and foremost, they need to be magnets. For talent. For money. For attention. And for much more.
Do you think there is an entrepreneur gene? Or is being a founder a vocation that can be taught or learned over time?
Wilson was stumped on the question of whether entrepreneurs are happier than other people. What do you think? And read the comments on Fred’s post on this point!
4 comments so far
1:56 PM PT
This is absolute garbage! Go read Peter Drucker on the subject. No wonder VC’s are such herd animals.
3:35 PM PT
Peter Drucker was not an entrepreneur.
Peter Drucker was a writer, consultant and university professor. In other words, he gets paid by talking, not by doing.
I enjoyed the article, especially the one about entrepreneur being a (people) magnet.
7:25 AM PT
I totally agree with you Denny. I enjoyed the article and do actually believe in the idea that entrepreneurial instincts are a direct result of personality traits and are not learned behaviors. I wrote a post with similar sentiments entitled Why Negativity is Great for your Business. Check it out and let me know what you think.
10:55 AM PT
I would have to agree that the majority of entrepreneurs I have met seemed to be born with the gift of being able to recognize which ideas are truly moneymakers. This appears to be the secret sauce and I don’t think that this is a skilled that can be easy transferred or taught.
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