Entrepreneur is one of the ugliest words ever borrowed from a foreign tongue – we should have left it with the French. It could be that the word itself doesn’t bother me, maybe it’s the amount of pretense packed into the label. Maybe it’s just that I don’t know how to use the word any more.
Wikipedia tells me “an entrepreneur is a person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks.” That sounds a lot like anyone who runs a business. But I know plenty of business owners I wouldn’t tag as entrepreneur.
I’m actually noticing that it’s very seldom that I tag [blog] authors as entrepreneur at all. Those that do get the tag are typically key people at funded start-ups chasing big ideas.
We’ve just [officially] launched a new venture. And I’m not feeling very entrepreneurial. We aren’t funded. We’re taking on very little risk. The idea is big, but it’s proven, it’s tested, and it’s adopted.
Maybe a decade of perpetual stress / risk (mainly from our primary gig) has a way of numbing a geek out. Maybe the entrepreneur definition really is narrowing. I don’t know. But it’s probably time to chase something.
3 Responses to “What makes an entrepreneur”
You gonna spill the cabbage on the new venture?
Nothing you aren’t already familiar with – I’m talking about Wellstream. New isn’t the best descriptor considering it has been in both test and live production for 2.5 years. But baby’s all growed up now and has some new components, new clients, and a new last name (LLC.) The marketing site will get kicked out of hiding in a few days.
Very cool. I would be curious to hear with whom/where it is gaining traction.