The truth of experience

“We can only move into the future together with confidence if
each person has told their truth about the past and present.” quoted from “How to Change The World –  Lessons for Entrepreneurs From Activists” by Adam Kahane. http://goo.gl/5VCqA

On Entrepreneurship

I am jotting down some thoughts on entrepreneurship:

1. The motivational profile of an entrepreneur can be best understood in terms of ‘Achievement Motivation’ described by David C. McClelland. It is the need for achievement that drives a person to take the moderate, calculated risks of starting out on a new venture. The need for achievement gives him sufficient energy to face the hardships, and persist in the face of adversity.

2. I would suggest that youngsters fresh out of college must first take up a paid job, before starting out on their own. In several cases that we see around us, entrepreneurs are not able to rise to their full potential, due the lack of discipline and maturity that a formal work experience would give them. (Of course, this is not applicable to people of the calibre of Bill Gates.) The formal work experience, especially at a junior level, would also expose them to the world of employees, an understanding that is indispensable to any employer or entrepreneur. Another quality that entrepreneurs will have to gain through formal work experience is that of working in teams, and the ability to set aside ego issues. Too many ventures fail due to lack of team work.

3. Entrepreneurs fail to rise to their full potential when they think of themselves as perpetual entrepreneurs. They sometimes get stuck with the idea of entrepreneurship, and do not re-invent themselves as leaders of people and managers of the organizations they have established. Entrepreneurs do a great job, when they channel their achievement motivation to the goal of taking their current enterprise to the level of excellence, rather than being in a hurry to do the next big thing.