Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
Chapter 1. Introduction to entrepreneurship
Introduction to entrepreneurship
● Tremendous interest in entrepreneurship around the world
● Primary motivations for entrepreneurial activity
○ Make a difference in the world
○ Earn a living because other jobs are scarce
○ Build great wealth/ earn a very high income (prevalence varies)
● Criticism of entrepreneurship: majority of new businesses fail (not true)
What is entrepreneurship and why is it important?
● Innovator (creates something new) ≠ entrepreneur (assembles and integrates resources needed)
● Entrepreneurship: the process by which individuals pursue opportunities without regard
to resources they cusition of a firm on a conceptual continuum ranging from highly
conservative to highly entrepreneurial
○ Firms with higher entrepreneurial intensity regularly look for ways to cut
bureaucracy
Why do people become entrepreneurs
Be their own boss
● Long-time ambition to own their own firm / frustration working in traditional jobs
● Sometimes more gradually (part-time entrepreneur)
Pursue their own ideas
● Established firms often resist innovation → employees recognizing new ideas
leave the firm and start their own business
● Idea development in noncorporate settings
● Satisfaction when their entrepreneurial idea catches on
Pursue financial rewards
● Typically secondary to the first two and often fails to live up its hype
● Often financial rewards are bittersweet → losing power to get more money
,Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
Passion for the business
● Primary motivator behind many social enterprises: making a
difference in people’s life
● Passion is important for both for-profit and non-profit
entrepreneurs as the process of starting a firm /
corporation / enterprise is demanding
● 5 primary reasons why passion is important
○ Ability to learn and iterate
○ A willingness to work hard for an extended period of
time
○ Ability to overcome setbacks and no’s
○ Ability to listen to feedback on the limitation of your organization and yourself
○ Perseverance and persistence when the going gets tough
● Do not wear rose-colored glasses → understand potential flaws and risks
product/customer focus
● Deliver value to satisfy customers
● Spot product opportunities and see them through to completion
● Importance of product/market focus
Tenacity despite failure
● Possibility of failure exists → experimentation before success → persevere
through setbacks and failures
● In addition, important is to overcome personal obstacles along with
Execution intelligence
● The ability to fashion a solid idea into a viable business
● Factor which determines whether a start-up is successful or fails
● Demands ability to translate thought, creativity, and imagination into action and
measurable results
● Learned by participating in start-up incubator and accelerator programs
Common myths about entrepreneurs
Myth 1: entrepreneurs are born, not made
● Many studies proving otherwise
● Entrepreneurship is a function of environment, life experience and personal choices;
however personality traits and characteristics are commonly associated
,Myth 2: entrepreneurs are gamblers
● Thought due to high uncertainty and challenging goals
● However, they are usually moderate risk takers
Myth 3: entrepreneurs are motivated primarily by money
● Rarely the primary reason → pursuit of money can be distracting
Myth 4: entrepreneurs should be young and energetic
● Fairly evenly spread out over age ranges
● Majority of business owners have work experience prior to launching a new venture
● Investors would rather invest in a strong entrepreneur with a mediocre business idea
than a strong business idea with a mediocre entrepreneur
○ Strong: experience in the business, skills and abilities helping the
business / solid reputation / track record of success / passion → tends
to be in older rather than younger entrepreneurs
Myth 5: entrepreneurs love the spotlight
● Vast majority does not attract public attention → rather avoid public notice as
they work on proprietary products or services
Types of start-up firms
● Salary-substitute firms: small firms that yield a level of income for their owner or
owners that is similar to what they would earn when working for an employer
○ Vast majority of entrepreneurs → common, easily available, not
particularly innovative products
○ Eg. restaurant owners, dry cleaners
● Lifestyle firms: provide owners the opportunity to pursue a particular lifestyle and earn
a living while doing so
○ Promote a particular pastime
○ eg. personal trainers, B&B owners
● Entrepreneurial firms: bring new products and services to market
○ Essence of entrepreneurship → creating value and then disseminating
that value to customers (Value: worth, importance, or utility)
○ Bring new product and services to market by creating, then seizing opportunities
○ Often partner with other firms/organizations, to obtain the boost needed to reach
full potential
○ Eg. Facebook, Uber
, Changing demographics of entrepreneurs
Women entrepreneurs
● Men are more likely to start a business, however women-owned businesses are
Increasing globally
● Higher in an opportunity-driven environment (encouraging markets, higher income, developed economies), but
not always necessary (eg. Uganda)
● Countries with higher levels of female entrepreneurial activity: Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
Madagascar
Minority entrepreneurs
● Substantial increase in minority entrepreneurs all over the world → still a
huge gap
Senior entrepreneurs
● # seniors starting businesses is substantial and growing → can also be a
source of guidance, knowledge, and skills for your aspiring entrepreneurs
● Increase of senior entrepreneurs due to several factors, eg. corporate downsizing,
increasing desire for more personal fulfillment, growing worries for pension.
Millennial entrepreneurs
● Desire to pursue an entrepreneurial career is high among millennials
● Small businesses with younger owners have a higher likelihood of growth
○ More innovative, create more job opportunity, export more, use social media,
undergo training
● Many forces encourage millennials to consider entrepreneurship: more emphasis at
school, companies encourage students by programs
The positive effects of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial firms
● Creative destruction: entrepreneurs develop new product and technologies that over
time make current products and technologies obsolete
○ Most effectively initiated by start-up ventures improving on what is
currently available → “innovators” or “agents of change”
Economic impact of entrepreneurial firms
● Innovation: the process of creating something new → central to
entrepreneurial process
● Job creation: entrepreneurship and SMEs are the main factors contributing to economic
growth
Chapter 1. Introduction to entrepreneurship
Introduction to entrepreneurship
● Tremendous interest in entrepreneurship around the world
● Primary motivations for entrepreneurial activity
○ Make a difference in the world
○ Earn a living because other jobs are scarce
○ Build great wealth/ earn a very high income (prevalence varies)
● Criticism of entrepreneurship: majority of new businesses fail (not true)
What is entrepreneurship and why is it important?
● Innovator (creates something new) ≠ entrepreneur (assembles and integrates resources needed)
● Entrepreneurship: the process by which individuals pursue opportunities without regard
to resources they cusition of a firm on a conceptual continuum ranging from highly
conservative to highly entrepreneurial
○ Firms with higher entrepreneurial intensity regularly look for ways to cut
bureaucracy
Why do people become entrepreneurs
Be their own boss
● Long-time ambition to own their own firm / frustration working in traditional jobs
● Sometimes more gradually (part-time entrepreneur)
Pursue their own ideas
● Established firms often resist innovation → employees recognizing new ideas
leave the firm and start their own business
● Idea development in noncorporate settings
● Satisfaction when their entrepreneurial idea catches on
Pursue financial rewards
● Typically secondary to the first two and often fails to live up its hype
● Often financial rewards are bittersweet → losing power to get more money
,Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
Passion for the business
● Primary motivator behind many social enterprises: making a
difference in people’s life
● Passion is important for both for-profit and non-profit
entrepreneurs as the process of starting a firm /
corporation / enterprise is demanding
● 5 primary reasons why passion is important
○ Ability to learn and iterate
○ A willingness to work hard for an extended period of
time
○ Ability to overcome setbacks and no’s
○ Ability to listen to feedback on the limitation of your organization and yourself
○ Perseverance and persistence when the going gets tough
● Do not wear rose-colored glasses → understand potential flaws and risks
product/customer focus
● Deliver value to satisfy customers
● Spot product opportunities and see them through to completion
● Importance of product/market focus
Tenacity despite failure
● Possibility of failure exists → experimentation before success → persevere
through setbacks and failures
● In addition, important is to overcome personal obstacles along with
Execution intelligence
● The ability to fashion a solid idea into a viable business
● Factor which determines whether a start-up is successful or fails
● Demands ability to translate thought, creativity, and imagination into action and
measurable results
● Learned by participating in start-up incubator and accelerator programs
Common myths about entrepreneurs
Myth 1: entrepreneurs are born, not made
● Many studies proving otherwise
● Entrepreneurship is a function of environment, life experience and personal choices;
however personality traits and characteristics are commonly associated
,Myth 2: entrepreneurs are gamblers
● Thought due to high uncertainty and challenging goals
● However, they are usually moderate risk takers
Myth 3: entrepreneurs are motivated primarily by money
● Rarely the primary reason → pursuit of money can be distracting
Myth 4: entrepreneurs should be young and energetic
● Fairly evenly spread out over age ranges
● Majority of business owners have work experience prior to launching a new venture
● Investors would rather invest in a strong entrepreneur with a mediocre business idea
than a strong business idea with a mediocre entrepreneur
○ Strong: experience in the business, skills and abilities helping the
business / solid reputation / track record of success / passion → tends
to be in older rather than younger entrepreneurs
Myth 5: entrepreneurs love the spotlight
● Vast majority does not attract public attention → rather avoid public notice as
they work on proprietary products or services
Types of start-up firms
● Salary-substitute firms: small firms that yield a level of income for their owner or
owners that is similar to what they would earn when working for an employer
○ Vast majority of entrepreneurs → common, easily available, not
particularly innovative products
○ Eg. restaurant owners, dry cleaners
● Lifestyle firms: provide owners the opportunity to pursue a particular lifestyle and earn
a living while doing so
○ Promote a particular pastime
○ eg. personal trainers, B&B owners
● Entrepreneurial firms: bring new products and services to market
○ Essence of entrepreneurship → creating value and then disseminating
that value to customers (Value: worth, importance, or utility)
○ Bring new product and services to market by creating, then seizing opportunities
○ Often partner with other firms/organizations, to obtain the boost needed to reach
full potential
○ Eg. Facebook, Uber
, Changing demographics of entrepreneurs
Women entrepreneurs
● Men are more likely to start a business, however women-owned businesses are
Increasing globally
● Higher in an opportunity-driven environment (encouraging markets, higher income, developed economies), but
not always necessary (eg. Uganda)
● Countries with higher levels of female entrepreneurial activity: Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
Madagascar
Minority entrepreneurs
● Substantial increase in minority entrepreneurs all over the world → still a
huge gap
Senior entrepreneurs
● # seniors starting businesses is substantial and growing → can also be a
source of guidance, knowledge, and skills for your aspiring entrepreneurs
● Increase of senior entrepreneurs due to several factors, eg. corporate downsizing,
increasing desire for more personal fulfillment, growing worries for pension.
Millennial entrepreneurs
● Desire to pursue an entrepreneurial career is high among millennials
● Small businesses with younger owners have a higher likelihood of growth
○ More innovative, create more job opportunity, export more, use social media,
undergo training
● Many forces encourage millennials to consider entrepreneurship: more emphasis at
school, companies encourage students by programs
The positive effects of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial firms
● Creative destruction: entrepreneurs develop new product and technologies that over
time make current products and technologies obsolete
○ Most effectively initiated by start-up ventures improving on what is
currently available → “innovators” or “agents of change”
Economic impact of entrepreneurial firms
● Innovation: the process of creating something new → central to
entrepreneurial process
● Job creation: entrepreneurship and SMEs are the main factors contributing to economic
growth
