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  #1  
Old September 18, 2003, 12:30 PM
Azlee
 
Posts: n/a
Default Entrepreneur

Hi...

Greetings

Here I have 2 question to discuss ..

1).Do you think entrepreneur is born because of the education system
or because economic pressure.

2)What are the roles of venture capitalist?and why is it important to
some entrepreneur?

I hope Sir/madam or any body can help me to answer this question
because I really want to know about it's..Please sent me back the answer..

Thank

Yours sencerely

Azlee
  #2  
Old September 18, 2003, 01:00 PM
Michael S. Winicki
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Entrepreneur

I think a good chunk of entreprenuers are neither the result of education (the education system in the U.S. does a pretty poor job of creating and supporting entrepreneurs... everything is geared towards look for a job, find a job, keep a job) or the economy.

The economy certainly has some affect. Some lose their jobs and are forced to make their own jobs. Others see opportunities in parts of the economy that are exploding with potential.

The greatest influx of entrepreneurs I see (and I spend a good 20-25 hours per week with start-ups) is the result of a technical type person thinking their boss/manager/business owner is a dink (can I say dink here?) and they think they can run a business better than the person they're working for.

Venture capital affects a very small percentage of entrepreneurs. Most get financing from savings, 401K, friends, relatives, credit cards. Bank financing and venture capital rank pretty far down the list.

Take care,

Mike Winicki




The first complete manual on creating and using space advertising to grow your business...
  #3  
Old September 18, 2003, 11:53 PM
Christopher Lau
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Entrepreneur

IMHO, the Entrepreneur is born, not as much from economic or education factors, but because the individual has a dream of achieving something that their normal job/career cannot fulfil.

This can be economic. My father started a chinese restaurant he ran for 27 years, simply because he wanted to have the "security" of owning his own business and not worrying about getting sacked.

Education, more accurately, financial education, would likely have a impact if the individual gets a dream of having a better lifestyle (or the fear of retiring broke.) You can only guess what Robert Kiasaki's (spelling??) Rich Dad series of books have done to the mentality of many people, and the number of new enterpreneurs that have come about as a result.

I've been building and running businesses in different areas for 5 years now, and for me, things usually start from a good idea, and just running with it. I have the suspicion (spelling??) that's how most entrepreneurs go....an idea or opportunity pops up and they just run with it, sometimes quitting what they were doing previously, sometimes working the new venture around their standard procedure.
  #4  
Old September 19, 2003, 03:14 AM
Michael Ross (Aust, Qld)
 
Posts: n/a
Default My Radical Theory of Entrepreneur

Your questions sounds like those put forth in an assignment for school/college/university. Are they?

Here is my somewhat radical theory of Entrepreneur. I have not read about this anywhere else before. And most likely you haven't either. So you are reading it here first.

Anyway. Here is my theory...

You are far more likely to be an entrepreneur if you are an only child or born in such a situation amongst siblings it is as if you were an only child (maybe five or six years after other siblings were born). (This does not take into account being raised as an entrepreneur from entrepreneurial parents.)

The only child's companion is its mind. Without a brother/sister constantly around, the only child can "think for itself." The only child gets time away from "the system." The only child is FORCED to entertain itself (think). To "go it alone." To "figure things out." There is no fallback for an only child.

This "pattern" is ingrained into the child BEFORE it gets put into the system of school. The mental pathways have been set during those early developing years.

Does this mean you can't become an entrepreneur if you were born in a large family in the middle without hardly any years between siblings?

No. You can learn to be an entrepreneur. But it's not something that comes natural to you - as it does the only child or person who grew up like an only child.

My preliminary research shows my theory fits. Care to chime in.

Michael Ross


Brain Food For Entrepreneurs
  #5  
Old September 19, 2003, 04:49 AM
Dennis Bevers
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: My Experience

I'm the middle of 5 children. My parents were entrepreneurs, starting two separate businesses while I was growing up. Years later, both my Mom and Dad worked as independent contractors. Their last venture was going into the antiques business, starting small and growing it into an antique mall with a number of spaces rented to others.

After quitting the military twice, and several other jobs, I choose the independence and prospects of self-employment. I've been self-employed full-time since 1987, and can't imagine every being an employee again.

What I a natural born entrepreneur or was it a "learned" inclination from my environment.

With one grandfather a farmer and the other an entreprenurial businessman, I believe it is a combination of genetics and environmental exposure to self-employment option.

I certainly wasn't a natural born salesman, but that is my vocation.

I hope my shared experiences help answer your question.

Dennis Bevers


Limited risk, with a wide range of opportunities!
  #6  
Old September 19, 2003, 03:12 PM
Simon Latouche
 
Posts: n/a
Default Illegitimate, Handicapped, Homosexual...

Great observation, deserving a book, Michael!

My observations.

You have more chances to succeed in business (and any other activity) if you are:

1. illegitimate child
2. orphan (or abandoned child)
3. 'handicapped' in any way (you limp, lisp, you are too short, you are considered 'not very bright', 'stupid', down to 'retarded'
4. homosexual
....

I beg to differ on one point:
You CAN'T 'learn' to be an entrepreneur. It's a matter of 'grace', and all the factors contributing to being successful are out of your control.

Simon
  #7  
Old September 19, 2003, 07:38 PM
Dien Rice
 
Posts: n/a
Default You CAN be taught how to be an entrepreneur...

Hi Azlee,

> 1).Do you think entrepreneur is born because
> of the education system
> or because economic pressure.

I'm going to go against what some have said here. I think you CAN be taught how to be an entrepreneur.

I see entrepreneurship - at its heart - as "urban survival skills". It's HOW to SURVIVE in society without a JOB. How to make money (legitimately) through your own efforts.

Let's head to the jungle. Can you learn how to survive in the jungle, or are you "born" with jungle-survival skills? Of course you can learn how to survive in the jungle. Jungle tribes teach these skills to their children all the time. Our ancestors would all have learned these skills.

Let's head back to the "urban jungle". At one time, almost everyone was in "business". Just think of the Asterix comics! Obelix was in business - he sold menhirs. Getafix the Druid was in the business of creating and selling potions. There's also a smith, and a fish-monger. Before the industrial revolution, many people had trades - not jobs. They were small-time entrepreneurs, in their own way.

Jim Straw says something which is really true. He says that in every business, there are TWO sets of skills you need to know.

The first set of skills are those specific to the business. For example, if your business is repairing computers - you need to know how to repair computers. If your business is selling hot dogs, you need to know where to find sources of hot dogs and how to cook them.

The second set of skills are those which are universal for all businesses. These are skills like marketing, sales, accounting, customer-service skills, and so on. Whatever business you're in, the better you are at these skills, the more successful your business will be.

So, to be an entrepreneur - you need to have both sets of these skills. And, in my opinion, they can all be learned.

Here's another way to look at it. Can the skill to play basketball be taught, or is a basketball player "born"?

Obviously, almost everyone can be taught to play basketball. Now, let's change the question a little bit.

Can anyone be taught to play basketball - like Michael Jordan? I think here's where we start getting to the issue of the talents you are born with.

Everyone can be taught to play basketball. Not everyone can play like Michael Jordan.

I see business as no different.

Almost everyone can be taught how to write a sales letter which will sell. Not everyone can write a salesletter like Gary Halbert.

Almost everyone can be taught how to profit by developing property. But not everyone will be able to make money developing property like Donald Trump.

But that doesn't bother me. You don't need to develop property like Donald Trump in order to be independent.

> 2)What are the roles of venture
> capitalist?and why is it important to
> some entrepreneur?

Venture Capitalists (VCs) are companies which buy portions of start-up companies which they feel have a chance at becoming very big. In the process of buying portions of these companies, they provide millions of dollars which the company can use to develop their business.

VCs are needed for some business opportunities, since some business opportunities require a lot of money to develop. Let's say you have discovered that some property you could buy has a large deposit of diamonds. It could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, or even billions.

However, in order to dig out those diamonds - you have to spend millions of dollars in equipment and wages. This could be a very profitable business - but you could need millions of dollars in order to see the full profit from it.

Not all business opportunities are like this. Some don't require much money at all. (Most of the business ideas we write about in The Great Ideas Letter don't need much money to develop into a business - some of them you could start for under $100.)

There are many ways you could get the millions of dollars you might need for SOME business opportunities - VCs are only one way of getting the needed money.

But that's why some businesses really need VCs. At the same time, many businesses don't need them at all. It partly depends on which opportunity they are exploiting.

- Dien Rice


A Good Place To Learn Some "Urban Survival Skills"...
  #8  
Old September 19, 2003, 10:20 PM
mario
 
Posts: n/a
Default When United States got it's independence...

from the english, those english brought back with
them their English Bank System.

Come on, you just don't help rebels with crown
jewels just like that!!!

So the americans had to reinvent their financial
system. And a few other ropes Kings carry
in their bags.

Somehow they reinvented their financial system
not around Banks which tend to make rich people
richer, but around the Stock Exchange that was
invented or brought back into fashion by the end
of the eightteenth century.

So this organization of their financial system
around the Stock Exchange led some years later
to the huge industrial revolution where someone
with a good idea could make it big, and while
England was building it's "empire where the sun
never sets", United States was building its "land
of opportunity".

This "someone with a good idea that could make it
big" in the last sentence was to be later called
an "entrepreneur" by some classy intellectuals
of the 20th century, trying to perpetuate the
growth rate in the economy of that time forever.

Clearly the "entrepreneur" was born out of the
economic pressure of the King taking back home
his Banks and other belongings.

And the venture capitalist is the person (or orga-
nization) with money that beleives those classy
intellectuals about the "entrepreneur"s and
finances Silicon Valley and Boston High Tech
industrial center, either when there's an
opportunity or there's a big problem in the
economy like there was at one time in Boston.

So that's what approximately are entrepreneurs and
venture capitalists and their importance.

mario
do-your-idea.com



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  #9  
Old September 20, 2003, 01:53 AM
Ankesh Kothari
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: My Radical Theory of Entrepreneur

I think the 2nd child has the best chances of being an entrepreneur.

Because 2nd child is more rebelious by nature. The 1st child is more conservative while the 2nd child is liberal & rebelious.

And entrepreneurs are a bit rebelious - doing things their own way - finding better or faster ways to do "stuff". They take risks - and the 2nd child takes more risk than the first.
  #10  
Old September 22, 2003, 11:24 PM
Thomas Rice
 
Posts: n/a
Default Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs

Hi Azlee,

1) I don't think entrepreneurs are created through the educational system. You will have entrepreneurs in most educational systems. I don't think people become entrepreneurs due to economic pressure, either.

Economic pressure may play a role, but I'd say it cuts both ways. Someone who is under a lot of economic pressure may feel more inclined to pursue higher-achieving results, which may lead to entrepreneurship. At the same time, someone from a wealthy background who is under no economic pressure may have more leeway to try new ideas and thus that may be an influence on the decision to become an entrepreneur.

2) Venture capitalists help raise financing. At a basic level, entrepreneurs create businesses, and businesses often cost money to run. Early stage businesses sometimes will temporarily lose money as it develops a market, and growing a business can be costly.

If you are setting up a retail chain, for example, you may start with one store and it may be profitable. If you want to expand to another five stores, you may think they will all be profitable but there may be an upfront cost you cannot afford to pay for.

In this situation you would need financing. Financing basically comes in two types -- debt and equity.

Debt is where you borrow money and repay it later, such as a bank loan. Equity is where you sell part of your company to somebody else.

Venture capitalists basically invest in early stage companies, but they typically invest larger amounts after a company has started to go.

If financing is required, most entrepreneurs raise money from their own savings, friends, and family. They may also raise money from "angel investors", being wealth individuals who invest relatively small amounts in start-up and growing businesses.

I'm not sure of the exact figure, because I'm not that experienced with the venture capital world, but I imagine venture capitalists invest at around the $5 million plus mark.

After venture capitalists the next source of funding is usually an initial public offering (IPO), if your company is large enough, which is where you list on a stock exchange and raise capital from public shareholders.

Hope this helps!

- Thomas.




http://www.thomasrice.com/
 


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