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Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Prof. Pradip P Chatterjjee

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Why are you here?

What do you want to do?

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Who is an Entrepreneur?

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Insane perseverance in the face of total rejection.

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What Is An Entrepreneur?

ENTREPRENEUR

A vision-driven individual who assumes significant personal and financial risk to start or expand a

business.

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What Takes to be an Entrepreneur?

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The pursuit of opportunity throughinnovation, creativity and hard work

without regard for the resources currently controlled.

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Entrepreneurship• Entrepreneurship: a way of thinking,

reasoning, and acting that is:– opportunity obsessed– holistic in approach– and leadership balanced

(This definition of entrepreneurship has evolved over the past two decades from research at Babson College and the Harvard Business School and has recently been enhanced by Stephen Spinelli, Jr., and John H. Muller, Jr., Term Chair at Babson College.)

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Entrepreneurs: Born or Made?

• Is there inborn talent required?

• Assume that the answer is YES: – then we can identify the main characteristics– if we have them, fine - no others need to apply! – we could start spotting talent in kindergarten– we could "stream" these people– we could discourage people without these talents

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Entrepreneurs: Born or Made?• Assume the answer is NO:

– then schools could teach anyone– would be a "profession" like law or medicine– companies could establish "nurseries" for them– government "incubators" would be successes

• The real answer lies somewhere in-between– Talent and education is the way

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Situational more than personality

Who is an Entrepreneur?

AgeDistribution

forStarting Company

Ability

Age

20 3025 35 4540

Flexibility

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Who is an Entrepreneur?Manager’s Opportunities

PerceivedCapability

Future Goals

Change Status Quo

Possible

Blocked

SatisfiedmanagerEntrepreneur

Frustratedmanager

Classicbureaucrat

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Burch's Entrep. Personality Traits1.A desire to achieve

Conquer problems, create successful venture

2.Hard work Their workload is very hard to match

3.Nurturing quality

4.Acceptance of responsibility Morally, legally and mentally accountable

5.Reward orientation Want be rewarded for their efforts

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Burch's Entrep. Personality Traits6.Optimism

Anything is possible

7.Orientation to excellence Pride in something first class

8.Organization They are wholly "take charge" people

9.Profit orientation Profit primarily a gauge of performance

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Failure? So what!• Failure seen differently in America & Europe.

– In Europe it is a major set-back– U.S. expected (required even!)– Canada - in between but tending to U.S.

• “Our” System:– Many entrepreneurs had been "blue collar"– Many come from families of entrepreneurs– Many are immigrants or their children– But, there are no "rules" that ensure success

• Universally, entrepreneurs shake off failure!

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Failure as “Learning Process”• Ignore it, then start again

– Some find it easy to blame someone else

• In public, always optimistic– Especially with funders– Agonise over what went wrong in private

• Willingness to disregard the rules – Start from first principles.

• Ability to "bend, not break" rules of life

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Classic Entrepreneurship: The Startup

• Raw startup company—an innovative idea that develops into a high growth company

• Qualities of a startup company– Strong leadership from the main entrepreneur

– Complementary talents and outstanding teamwork of team members

– Skill and ingenuity to find and control resources

– Financial backing to chase opportunity

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Desirable and Acquirable Attitudes and Behaviors

• Commitment and determination

• Leadership

• Opportunity obsession

• Tolerance of – Risk– Ambiguity– Uncertainty

• Creativity, self-reliance, and adaptability

• Motivation to excel

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The Entrepreneurial Process• It is opportunity/marketopportunity/market driven

• It is driven by a lead entrepreneurlead entrepreneur and an entrepreneurial teamentrepreneurial team

• It is resource parsimoniousparsimonious and creativecreative

• It depends on the fitfit and balancebalance among these

• It is integratedintegrated and holisticholistic

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The Timmons Model of the Entrepreneurial Process

Opportunity(2)

Resources(4)

Team(3)

Ambiguity Exogenous forces

Capital marketsUncertainty

Founder(1)

Creativity Leadership

Communication

Business PlanFits and gaps

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Enlightened Serendipity

• Being in the right place

• At the right time,• Recognizing it, and• Acting upon it,• APPROPRIATELY and• PASSIONATELY!!!