I personally feel that characteristics does not define an entrepreneur. Playing along that sentiment, there is no right way to confine what an entrepreneur should or should not be. We see many example of entrepreneurs that have led the way into something that no one else ever thought possible. Some examples could be Jack Ma the co-founder of Alibaba who was rejected from Harvard 10 times but is now someone who is studies as a case study and icon of an entrepreneur. Steve Jobs who revolutionized the way we understand computers, mobile, and music gadgets. Elon Musk the owner of Tesla Inc. who many CEOs of elite automobile companies thought would not succeed and was crazy for doing what he did in the electric motor business.
But somewhere among these people, them seem to have something in common. Among them, they all seem to be motivated with a clear vision, they were ready to risk it all, they embraced failure and rejection and grew from it, they challenged the status quo, they seem to not be swayed by emotions, they were persistent in their work and they did not just think but ventured out into the unknown. Important traits have been explained below.
Clear and Shared Vision
They all had a clear vision on what they want to accomplish and why. They seem to be driven by this vision no matter what. These visions are shared in nature as well. People are so inspired with these vision that they make it their own vision. Staffs at Apple or Tesla feel a part of something revolutionary and great. Steve Jobs had a vision to provide computer for everyone while Elon Musk wanted to revolutionize electric vehicles and even space exploration all of which were great undertakings.
Risk it all
Reading about these people, there are always incidents that makes you feel that they are little eccentric and for lack of a better word, plain crazy. In Elon’s own words, “It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.” (Pressman, 2018)
Embrace failure and rejection
One sure way to fail in business in to be scared of failure and rejection. No one like it but an entrepreneur should understand that failure and rejection are just part of the bigger picture. "The Apple Lisa. Macintosh TV. The Apple III. The Powermac g4 cube. Steve Jobs was brilliant about understanding how technology vectors were evolving, yet even he screwed up royally, and often. The lesson that I take from these defunct products is that people will soon forget that you were wrong on a lot of smaller bets, so long as you nail big bets in a major way (in Jobs’s case, the iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc). (Sims, 2013)”
Be a leader - Challenge the status quo
People aspire to become leaders who are courageous to follow their vision. Thus many successful entrepreneurs seem to challenge the status quo which seems to inspire people to do the same. "People want to be led-not managed, that is why the battle for mind share and talent, time and again, is being won by entrepreneurial leaders. (Spinelli, Jr. & Adams)” No one imagined that space exploration would bring profit or worth investing in but Elon Musk challenged the status quo. Similarly Steve Jobs developed Ipod which challenged the technology at the time. He even challenged IBM which was at the time one of the most powerful and leading computer manufacturer.
References
Pressman, M. (2018, January 12). ELON MUSK: RISK-TAKING AND IMAGINATION ARE KEYS TO SUCCESS AT TESLA AND SPACEX. Tesla News . Retrieved from evannex.com/blogs/news/elon-musk-r...
Sims, P. (2013, January 21). Five of Steve Jobs’s Biggest Mistakes. Harverd Business Review .
Spinelli, Jr., S., & Adams, R. (n.d.). New Venture Creation . New York City: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
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I personally feel that characteristics does not define an entrepreneur. Playing along that sentiment, there is no right way to confine what an entrepreneur should or should not be. We see many example of entrepreneurs that have led the way into something that no one else ever thought possible. Some examples could be Jack Ma the co-founder of Alibaba who was rejected from Harvard 10 times but is now someone who is studies as a case study and icon of an entrepreneur. Steve Jobs who revolutionized the way we understand computers, mobile, and music gadgets. Elon Musk the owner of Tesla Inc. who many CEOs of elite automobile companies thought would not succeed and was crazy for doing what he did in the electric motor business.
But somewhere among these people, them seem to have something in common. Among them, they all seem to be motivated with a clear vision, they were ready to risk it all, they embraced failure and rejection and grew from it, they challenged the status quo, they seem to not be swayed by emotions, they were persistent in their work and they did not just think but ventured out into the unknown. Important traits have been explained below.
Clear and Shared Vision
They all had a clear vision on what they want to accomplish and why. They seem to be driven by this vision no matter what. These visions are shared in nature as well. People are so inspired with these vision that they make it their own vision. Staffs at Apple or Tesla feel a part of something revolutionary and great. Steve Jobs had a vision to provide computer for everyone while Elon Musk wanted to revolutionize electric vehicles and even space exploration all of which were great undertakings.
Risk it all
Reading about these people, there are always incidents that makes you feel that they are little eccentric and for lack of a better word, plain crazy. In Elon’s own words, “It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.” (Pressman, 2018)
Embrace failure and rejection
One sure way to fail in business in to be scared of failure and rejection. No one like it but an entrepreneur should understand that failure and rejection are just part of the bigger picture. "The Apple Lisa. Macintosh TV. The Apple III. The Powermac g4 cube. Steve Jobs was brilliant about understanding how technology vectors were evolving, yet even he screwed up royally, and often. The lesson that I take from these defunct products is that people will soon forget that you were wrong on a lot of smaller bets, so long as you nail big bets in a major way (in Jobs’s case, the iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc). (Sims, 2013)”
Be a leader - Challenge the status quo
People aspire to become leaders who are courageous to follow their vision. Thus many successful entrepreneurs seem to challenge the status quo which seems to inspire people to do the same. "People want to be led-not managed, that is why the battle for mind share and talent, time and again, is being won by entrepreneurial leaders. (Spinelli, Jr. & Adams)” No one imagined that space exploration would bring profit or worth investing in but Elon Musk challenged the status quo. Similarly Steve Jobs developed Ipod which challenged the technology at the time. He even challenged IBM which was at the time one of the most powerful and leading computer manufacturer.
References
Pressman, M. (2018, January 12). ELON MUSK: RISK-TAKING AND IMAGINATION ARE KEYS TO SUCCESS AT TESLA AND SPACEX. Tesla News . Retrieved from evannex.com/blogs/news/elon-musk-r...
Sims, P. (2013, January 21). Five of Steve Jobs’s Biggest Mistakes. Harverd Business Review .
Spinelli, Jr., S., & Adams, R. (n.d.). New Venture Creation . New York City: McGraw-Hill Irwin.