Do you Have IT in you

Over my years as a technical student and now management student, I am struck by the number of people who say they want to be an entrepreneur. I am also struck by how evident it is that they don't have "entrepreneurial DNA."
Entrepreneurship is rarely a planned journey. I recently met with a b-school student in management fest who was presenting his B Plan. "I have a 10 year plan towards becoming an entrepreneur," he told me. Really? A 10-year plan to become an entrepreneur? What's that all about?
He wasn't the only person to say such things to me. Here are some of the other excuses I have heard from people when I asked them why they weren't being an entrepreneur, despite their professed love for it.
"I want to spend some years learning first, and building a base of security."
"I do not have access to the capital or resources to start."
"I know I want to be an entrepreneur, I just don't have the ideas."
These reasons all have a modicum of validity, but entrepreneurship is not something you just plan or do, it is something that you have to feel. Entrepreneurs hold an idealism and risk profile that makes them fundamentally different. They don't think about security--in fact they are often uncomfortable with it. And they have the guts to bet it over and over again. They think less about what they lack and more about what they can achieve with what they have. In a sea of ambiguity, they forge ahead with an incredible fortitude.
But just because someone is starting something or comes forward with an idea, it doesn't mean that they are entrepreneurial. What's more, there are obviously numerous people in entrepreneurial situations who should not be. It is similar to something I once read: just because someone goes to Temple, it does not necessarily make them a Hindu. True entrepreneurship goes fundamentally deeper as a belief system and as a mission. It is for this reason that when venture capitalist evaluate early stage entrepreneurs that they look for that "fire in the belly" and that "dare to be great" attitude and feeling of being an Invincible. When you've seen someone with it you know it.
Here is an analogy and question I ask people when assessing their potential for entrepreneurship: Are you a bond or an equity? I believe that most people grow up dreaming to be an equity (or at least thought of as equity), but end up working in high-yield bond situations. If not acted on early enough, these passions often become compromised as the lure of less risky alternatives and the reality of life-stage responsibilities present themselves. It is the guts to go after risk and the perseverance to stick it out that make entrepreneurs more equity-like than bond-like. Business schools are a fascinating places to watch equity people turn into bonds people, or at best to find "equity in the closet" - folks who deep down wish to start something but then decide to take bond-like jobs.
We know that this economy is increasing the number of graduating business school people who are willing to enter into start-ups and take on more risky ventures. At the Business Plan competition where I was recently partcipated, I believe that the number of plans was up some 60 percent this year over last year. If the economic uncertainty does nothing else, but pull some of that equity out of the closet and gets a few entrepreneurs realizing their full potential and creating new innovations, then it's done some good.
So... come on, which are you? Bond or an equity?
Over my years as an entrepreneur and now venture capitalist, I am struck by the number of people who say they want to be an entrepreneur. I am also struck by how evident it is that they don't have "entrepreneurial DNA."
Entrepreneurship is rarely a planned journey. I recently met with a b-school student who was interviewing at our firm. "I have a 10 year plan towards becoming an entrepreneur," he told me. Really? A 10-year plan to become an entrepreneur? What's that all about?
He wasn't the only person to say such things to me. Here are some of the other excuses I have heard from people when I asked them why they weren't being an entrepreneur, despite their professed love for it.
"I want to spend some years learning first, and building a base of security."
"I do not have access to the capital or resources to start."
"I know I want to be an entrepreneur, I just don't have the ideas."
These reasons all have a modicum of validity, but entrepreneurship is not something you just plan or do, it is something that you have to feel. Entrepreneurs hold an idealism and risk profile that makes them fundamentally different. They don't think about security--in fact they are often uncomfortable with it. And they have the guts to bet it over and over again. They think less about what they lack and more about what they can achieve with what they have. In a sea of ambiguity, they forge ahead with an incredible fortitude.
But just because someone is starting something or comes forward with an idea, it doesn't mean that they are entrepreneurial. What's more, there are obviously numerous people in entrepreneurial situations who should not be. It is similar to something I once read: just because someone goes to church, it does not necessarily make them a Christian. True entrepreneurship goes fundamentally deeper as a belief system and as a mission. It is for this reason that when we evaluate early stage entrepreneurs that we look for that "fire in the belly" and that "dare to be great" attitude. When you've seen someone with it you know it.
Here is an analogy and question I ask people when assessing their potential for entrepreneurship: Are you a bond or an equity? I believe that most people grow up dreaming to be an equity (or at least thought of as equity), but end up working in high-yield bond situations. (The proverbial post-business school career path of: "I'll work here for a few years, and then do my entrepreneurial passion."). If not acted on early enough, these passions often become compromised as the lure of less risky alternatives and the reality of life-stage responsibilities present themselves. It is the guts to go after risk and the perseverance to stick it out that make entrepreneurs more equity-like than bond-like. Business schools are a fascinating places to watch equity people turn into bonds people, or at best to find "equity in the closet" - folks who deep down wish to start something but then decide to take bond-like jobs.
I am hearing that this economy is increasing the number of graduating business school people who are willing to enter into start-ups and take on more risky ventures. At the Harvard Business School Business Plan competition where I was recently a judge, I believe that the number of plans was up some 60 percent this year over last year. If the economic uncertainty does nothing else, but pull some of that equity out of the closet and gets a few entrepreneurs realizing their full potential and creating new innovations, then it's done some good.
So... come on, which are you? Bond or an equity?