Prepare a short 500-word reflection on:
What is your aspiration regarding entrepreneurship or innovation? (note: the archetypes might help here)
What does the Entrepreneurial Characteristics survey tell you about your own existing capabilities re: entrepreneurship or innovation? What are you already good at? Where is there room for getting better? (note: refer back to those screen shots you were asked to take earlier in the module)
No one is perfect, so what specifically might you do to close any gaps you’ve identified?
CONTENT GIVEN BY PROFESSOR:
Entrepreneurial types ( I’m personally a imitator and opportunist)
Varieties of Innovators
There are many different types of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial pursuits.
Some entrepreneurs set out to change the world and their ventures reflect this ‘go big or go home’ attitude. Think Anne Wojcicki, Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey or Steve Jobs.
At the other end of the spectrum are entrepreneurs who simply want a venture that will enable them to live the life they choose. Prominent examples would be Tim Ferriss, author of “The 4-Hour Workweek” and Amy Porterfield, an online marketing guru.
Varieties of Innovators:
Mission Driven
These are entrepreneurs who are driven by a greater purpose, usually to change the world in some way. Social impact entrepreneurs usually fit into this archetype, but so do those who use technology or some proprietary intellectual property to do really big things. On the social impact end of things, Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and creator of micro-credit and micro-finance would be a member of this archetype.
Artist/Inventor
These entrepreneurs value creativity and originality. They can conjure up and create products or services that can be breakthroughs in the industry. They are found in a variety of industries, from the arts, to tech, to food, innovation and new designs and concepts are brought to fruition. One might put Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx into this category, given the use of his own PhD research to optimize logistics in the parcel business. Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX (to name but a few), would certainly fit here as well.
Imitator
These entrepreneurs are quick to spot a new innovation or business model. They seek to simply replicate and perhaps marginally improve a ‘hot’ new business. You can think of the founders of Endy, who brought to Canada a version of the very successful Casper “online mattress” business. These entrepreneurs love spotting new and working business models, replicating them quickly, and taking advantage of a new growing industry or industry segment.
Opportunist/Hustler
These entrepreneurs have an uncanny ability and desire to spot gaps in the marketplace. They see an opening, and they go for it. This archetype is often viewed as the “classic” entrepreneur, or similarly as a “serial” entrepreneur. They don’t fall in love with one business, they can fall in love with many businesses and often move from one to the other. Michele Romanow, President and co-founder of Clearbanc might fit this archetype.
Expert
The expert is an entrepreneur who starts his or her business after accruing years of experience in their field. They have expertise or a specialty they know will be valued and believe they can run a business better than their boss can or better than their current company. These entrepreneurs are laser focused on quality work and typically start an entrepreneurial journey with a customer base already in hand. In short, they often leave employment to do exactly what they were doing before, but ‘better’ or less encumbered. Brian O’Higgins, an original co-founder and CTO of Entrust Technologies – a spin-out of Nortel Networks – would be typical of this archetype as would many corporate spin-outs.
Lifestylist
These entrepreneurs start businesses because they want a certain lifestyle such as a flexible work schedule, chunks of time for travel, or working from home. They like control over their time and seek business opportunities which provide flexibility and don’t require a whole lot of time. You might put any number of microbusinesses and the entrepreneurs who founded them in this category – bloggers, solo consultants, influencers, etc.
Principles of success:
Generally speaking, there are 3 principles underpinning any form of intra/entrepreneurial success. Write down what you think these three principles of success are, then click on the tiles to see how you did.
Principle 1: Positive response to challenge and mistakes
Principle 2: Personal initiative
Principle 3: Great perserverence
The need-to-haves: six core themes
Now let’s turn our attention to the specific need-to-haves for entrepreneurs and innovators, beyond the 3 key principles described earlier. The research confirms that there are 6 core themes of desirable and acquirable attitudes and behaviours that seem to be present in most successful entrepreneurs and innovators.
Core attributes:
1. commitment and determination
a) tenacious and decisive, able to recommit/commit quickly
b) intensely competitive in achieving goals
c) persistent in soving problems, disciplined
d) willing to undertake personal sacrifice
e) immersed
2. leadership
a) self-starter; high standards but not a perfectionist
b) team builder and hero maker; inspires others
c) treats others as they want to be treated
d) share the wealth with all the people who helped create it
e) honest and reliable; builds trust; practices fairness
f) not a long wolf
g) superior learner and teacher; courage
h) patient and urgent
3. opportunity obsession
a) has intimate knowledge of customers’needs and wants
b) market driven
c) obsessed with value creation and enhancement
4. tolerance of risk, ambiguity and uncertainty
a) tenacious and decisive, able to recommit/commit quickly
b) intensely competitive in achieving goals
c) persistent in soving problems, disciplined
d) willing to undertake personal sacrifice
e) immersed
5. creativity, self-reliance, and adaptability
a) tenacious and decisive, able to recommit/commit quickly
b) intensely competitive in achieving goals
c) persistent in soving problems, disciplined
d) willing to undertake personal sacrifice
e) immersed
6. motivation to excel
a) goal-and-results oriented; high but realistic goals
b) drive to achieve and grow
c) low need for status and power
d) interpersonally supporting(versus competitive)
e) aware of own weaknesses and strengths
f) has perspective and sense of humour
Five desirable attributes:
Nice-to-haves
Desirable Attributes of Successful Innovators & Entrepreneurs
Being an entrepreneur or innovator is hard work. The research further indicates that there are other desirable attributes that make the innovation journey just that much easier:
• Intelligence
• Creativity and Innovativeness
• Energy, Health, and Emotional Stability
• Values
• Capacity to Inspire
Which of these attributes do you bring to any entrepreneurial pursuit? Rank order the attributes on the web page that follows, then take a screen capture or your arrangement. Keep this screen capture for later.
Non-entrepreneurial attributes
Not to have
“Red Flags” (Warning Signs, Dangers, Problems)
Also of interest as we discuss what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, is the reverse – what are red flags or non-entrepreneurial attributes associated with would-be entrepreneurs who often don’t make it? They include:
• Outer locus of control
• Invulnerability
• Knows it all
• Counter-dependency
• Being anti-authoritarian
• Impulsiveness
• Perfectionist
• Being “macho”
I’m sure you can think of some very successful entrepreneurs who exhibit all of the above characteristics. The names you might come up with illustrate an important caveat to any and all of these sorts assessments – there are always outliers who ‘don’t fit the mold’ and in fact, there is no one mold.
