Entrepreneurs Born or Made?

Tonight I'd like to go spontaneously and briefly write my reflections over today's class. First of all, over the past 6 years I've been studying business related courses and last couples of years I have focused on entrepreneurship and innovation related studies. However to be honest I have never thought seriously whether entrepreneurs born or made where Entrepreneurship Literature Seminar made me think and research over the argument. In the beginning while choosing the side I was pretty sure about entrepreneurs are born therefore I decided to set off with this topic. The first articles which I went through aim at understanding and explaining entrepreneurship as a phenomenon from the point of the entrepreneur's traits and characteristics, since the entrepreneur "causes" entrepreneurship. Without getting into details Gartner (1989) says that entrepreneur is he who creates organizations, while non-entrepreneurs do not. Besides Gartner (1989, 47-48) stresses upon some traits that differentiate entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs; ' need for achievement, locus of control, risk taking, values, and age are few of them’. According to Carland et al. (1988) entrepreneurship is a complex and dynamic process. Thereafter while I was going through the articles particularly published in favor of entrepreneurs are born to form our own argument, I realized that there was no clear distinctions in between and has never been! Bricklin (2001, 55) — who has started number of start-ups and is widely being recognized as successful entrepreneur —states that: “So, are entrepreneurs born or made? For me, the answer has been both: through a combination of following my instincts and being in an environment that cultivated and directed my talents. And I suspect this is the case for most entrepreneurs.”

However on the other hand (Anonymous 2007, 18) according to a survey by Northeastern University's School of Technological Entrepreneurship: “There isn't really such a thing as an accidental entrepreneur. Some 62% of entrepreneurs surveyed say they were inspired to start their own companies by their innate drive. Work experience and the success of their peers were cited by only 21% and 16%, respectively, as factors. In fact, 75% of those surveyed say they launched their first venture by the age of 30.”

In the end no doubt there is definitively something unique underneath the entrepreneurial logic. It is really hard to come up with some logical argument where in many employs risk averse approach but on contrast entrepreneurs are purposely being driven by risk taking behaviors. For me I strongly believe that — though definitely not underestimating the importance of education, culture and all external factors — successful entrepreneurs are unique personalities who to large extent behave and act according to their instincts and intuitions toward success; they need it. Some put it as entrepreneurial gens. To conclude it should be acknowledged that there is no clear distinctions in between whether entrepreneurs are born or made.

References:

Anonymous (2007) 'Are entrepreneurs born or made?', Black Entrepreise.

Bricklin, D. (2001) 'Natural-Born Entrepreneurs', Harvard Business Review.

Carland, J.W.; Hoy, F.; Carland, J.A.C. (1988) ‘"Who is an Entrepreneur?" Is a Question worth Asking?’, American Journal of Small Business.

Gartner, W.B. (1989) ‘"Who is an Entrepreneur?" Is the Wrong Question’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice.