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New Survey Examines Whether Entrepreneurs Are Born or Made
Higher education and corporate experience may play a bigger role than conventional wisdom suggests, according to new research.
Posted 6/ 6 11 at 3:00 PM | News, Leadership, Starting a Business, Education
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It's an age-old question: Are entrepreneurs born or made? A new survey of nearly 700 business owners by Ernst & Young found that most don't instantly become entrepreneurs, but instead venture into entrepreneurship after a bout in the corporate world. Nearly 60 percent of respondents call themselves "transitional entrepreneurs" and 45 percent started companies at or after age 30.The research combats the stereotype that all entrepreneurs are "Zuckerberg types," with incomplete formal educations and no corporate experience. In fact, a third of respondents cited their corporate experience as the biggest influence on their entrepreneurial careers, followed by higher education and mentors.
"Entrepreneurial leaders are defined as much by their early business experience, cultural background and external environment as they are by any innate personal characteristics," Maria Pinelli, global vice chair of strategic growth markets for Ernst & Young, said in a release. "Nurture, not nature, does appear to be more important in shaping the entrepreneurial mindset."
Entrepreneurship does seem to be addictive, as 60 percent have founded three or more companies, 20 percent started six or more, and 10 percent founded more than 10 companies.
Although most entrepreneurs are heavily influenced by their environment, the entrepreneurs surveyed identified several common personality traits that set them apart from their corporate peers. The group ranked individuals with vision, passion and drive as the most likely to make successful entrepreneurs.
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Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Yes, I'd say about 25% are Self Made , but the other 75%?
Sorry, It helps when you come from a Middle to Upper Class Income Family to afford to Send you to Colleges and Provide for you, so you can focus on your Grades and be involved in other programs in Schools to create your Network when you get out..
and more than 50% came from successfull Families and parents..
Starting with Warren Buffet..
Nope not good enough. It takes will and determination, that's all. Is it harder to get there for some? Absolutely, but they CAN get there! I don't except that excuse JoeD, sorry. In your statistic the other half came from nothing:}
Warren Buffet> Got his Start by being able to go to a Good College and then be Given "only" $5,000 for his first Investment....
Everything is Relative...
But, How much was $5,000 worth in today's Dollars back in 1950?
You could buy a 3 Bdrm SF Home in those days with that kind of $..
which are now worth over $4-$500k or more In Cal. or Chicago or NYC..
And guess how much $5k put into a Balanced Fund like VWELX back in 1950 is worth today?
Try $2,250,000!
and guess how much that $40k College Costs you spent on your College Education will be worth if Invested in a Balanced Portfolio like VWELX will be worth in 40 yrs?
If the Past 40 is any indication? Over $2 Million!
And seeing as some 66% Never Graduate and Drop out! They get stuck with both paying that kind of $ /Bill anyway and for what? Or they help use up their Parents Retirement $ in the process!
Sorry, It helps when you come from a Middle to Upper Class Income Family to afford to Send you to Colleges and Provide for you, so you can focus on your Grades and be involved in other programs in Schools to create your Network when you get out..
and more than 50% came from successfull Families and parents..
Starting with Warren Buffet..
Hey Mr. Buffet? Did you ever Repay that $ back to your Parents as a Matter of Principal?
At least Bill Gates Did and didn't even Graduate.. He gave his Parents The $ back in Stock in his Company.. and made them Multi-millionaires at least!
We ought to require just $5k be put into a Balanced Portfolio or Fund Before anything else when kids Want to go to College and see which makes the most $ by the time they need to retire..
and do that with at least 50% of our SS and Any Pension $..
JOE what is your problem with Mr. Buffet? You sound like a bitter hater. Move on. Iguarentee that man has worked his butt off to get where he is.
I have all my report cards from Kindergarden through High School. Reading back, if there was a grade in Stupidy, I would have got straight A. I rode into the University of Washington on my GI Bill. After 3 quarters,I wised up -like Bill Gates-and dropped out. I am retired. I am financially independent: Tell me, what did I do wrong? Dah??
Well thats easy to answer. They wanted to pay more money to Democrats to waste
Yes Annie because we all know that republicans do waste money. Wake up, they all suck!
Why did 60% start new companies if the first one they started was so sucessful???
bill cosby and Oprah are american billionaires that were not suppose to happen; there were 'security', racist security in place to prevent them from becoming anything, including reading and writing at one time. They didn't come from "dream" family backgrounds but they came from backgrounds, whatever they were that motivated the hell out of them; it was either that or they were born to be. Warrnet Buffett has said again and again he is no financial wizard; he got lucky and carried it through and through. America is suppose to be the place where anyone at anytime can get up and prepare for the market and do it. But there are BLOCKS in place out there to stop most anyone.
Now to the question, are entrepreneurs born or made? Entrepreneurs are born with the predisposition but that doesn't mean their fire will light up to do it but if they do it then they made it happen.
So should be all be looking at entrepreneurship? (I'll tell you a story.)
DWIGHT worked for a billion dollar company. He handled the billing for their largest customers. Dwight had seven kids. Dwight loved his big family. He and his wife decided that she would be a homemaker. The couple wanted their children to go on Disney World trips once a year for nearly a month; they stayed in the best accomodations. Dwight bought some land in some out of the way popular roadways. They went to the lands every weekend. Dwight put coke machines in businesses all along the roadways he travelled and serviced them as he took his family to the land in their motor home. Dwight and his wife had a college fund for the kids, not intending to pay fully for any degree but to have enough money to help out. (I like this story because I like the enriching idea and venture) and so did Dwight and his wife. They loved their small business. As their sons grew Dwight taught them the business.
We are so busy trying to be billionaires...with empty lives. The new version coming in is to be rich and enriched with a great family and friends in tow.
--MO
AMEN MARGARET! We have our priorities so messed up in this country. I am happy to say that I am alot like Dwight:)
It seems AOL and Ernst& Young do not fully understand the true meaning of "entrepreneur." You are equating entrepreneur with someone who starts a business: "A new survey of nearly 700 business owners by Ernst & Young found that most don't instantly become entrepreneurs, but instead venture into entrepreneurship after a bout in the corporate world. Nearly 60 percent of respondents call themselves 'transitional entrepreneurs'." Starting a business does NOT make one an entrepreneur. Not everyone who starts a business is an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is a personality type based on character traits. It is easy to see why you got a skewered response to your survey - you asked the wrong question.
I went to school with ZERO dollars in my pocket. Yeah 0. I did it all through loans and I'm tired of hearing excuses about how "people had money to go to college". It takes work, effort, maturity (and if anything I admit my maturity would have been 10 times better had I waited a few years after high school, but either way I grew up fast). The reality is most people would rather make excuses then put in the effort.
I like how you say "$5k put into a Balanced Fund like VWELX" is worth so much today. Well 5K put into "Webvan" is worth 0 today. If its just so easy to invest then why don't you put a small amount of money into a stock and just turn it into milliions? It's so easy right? The reality is Buffett knows what he's doing and earned every bit of it.