Are You a True Entrepreneur or Simply Entrepreneurial?
Posted on May 20, 2015 by Rey Tamayo, One of Thousands of Entrepreneurship Coaches on Noomii.
We often have great ideas and an "entrepreneurial spirit". But going from the idea to a startup is a huge leap that takes sacrifices, is it for you?
We see myriads of company ads that ask for “entrepreneurial” applicants in just about every professional job board. Google, Apple, and most other tech startups always seek “entrepreneurial” employees. However, with the possible exception of Google who has a program to advance true entrepreneurs inside the company, they really do not mean entrepreneurs, they mean having an entrepreneur spirit that just does not quite make it become an entrepreneur. True entrepreneurs make their own fortunes and they do not subjugate themselves to a company overseeing them (at least not until their startup gets acquire, in which case the entrepreneur will separate as soon as the contract is over to start something new). Being entrepreneurial is of immense value to a company because these are very special people, but it does fall short of being a true entrepreneur.
I know I will catch a lot of slack over this article, but I am writing it to open a dialog about the subject. There is a big difference between someone being entrepreneurial or having an entrepreneurial spirit and someone being a true entrepreneur. There are several reasons for this but the overwhelming largest one is the true entrepreneur’s willingness to roll the dice and risk almost everything for the startup and the potential huge rewards of becoming a successful entrepreneur; even while knowing an overwhelmingly huge amount do not make it. Einstein famously said “God does not roll the dice”, but entrepreneurs do and they go all in on a single shot each time they start a new startup (for true entrepreneurs have many startups in them). That is what separates them from entrepreneurial people.
Entrepreneurial people enjoy expanding ideas and working in exciting situations where their input matters to develop new products, but they do not like the huge risk and sacrifice that comes with becoming an entrepreneur. They are self-starters and prefer a great deal of autonomy which helps the company focus on the product rather than managing these magnificent individuals because they are driven to make the product live and work harder than most to put their mark on the product. They may take a smaller risk by working for a startup for smaller pay and a big stock option, but that is far as they will go. Their drive is priceless to the startup but they will stop short of risking it all and of taking on the responsibility that the founding team will shoulder. Now the good thing about entrepreneurial spirits is that some are butterflies in their cocoon, growing with their experience until their passion peaks and they spread their butterfly wings for the first time as a true entrepreneur! However, most will not do this.
I think these entrepreneurial spirits need a new label to celebrate how special they are and differentiate them from the true entrepreneur. Their contributions is what makes tech startups work so well, but they are quite different in the end from entrepreneurs. I cannot come up with the right word to describe them without saying entrepreneur but perhaps the readers can comment below on what they may be called! Also please feel free to chime in with your opinion on this point of view so we can start a dialog on this subject.
Which of these are you? An entrepreneurial spirt, an entrepreneur finding your bearings through the entrepreneurial spirit path, or a true entrepreneur?
