Last week I was in sunny (!?) Seattle.
I spent most of my waking hours working at a big table with a small group of successful entrepreneurial folks*. I met most of them in February at Pam and Charlie’s Lift Off, and the band was back together to collaborate on a project.
I admire each of them a heckuvalot because they work hard and well, crank out lots of good work, and clearly know their respective stuff. Being around them at Lift Off raised the bar for me, and after a week of watching them work, hearing about the things and people they know, and sharing the experiences they’ve had? Well, the bar got raised again.
So on that first morning I woke up with a wonder, which I tweeted:
Wondering if entrepreneurs are born or made.
I mean, if you don’t have the savvy business drive, can you learn it?
And I got great answers back from all kinds of nifty Tweeple…
Are entrepreneurs born or made?
Entrepreneurs make themselves. ~@PeterShallard
Learnt! We can learn anything with hard work. Talent only gets u so far! ~@learningjunkies
I hope you can learn it! ~@scientistcoach
On learning business drive: yes, a learned skill. I think even those who seem to’ve been born w/it have really learned it. ~@GraceJudson
Environment has an impact. I was raised by entrepreneurs, so the lack of employer/reg. paycheck is not foreign to me. ~@tandemantiques
I hope so since I’ve just started an online business!…even though I don’t think of myself as someone with business sense, I am very driven & self-motivated. ~@kirstymhall
I’ve always been a service provider and didn’t think I had an “entrepreneurial bone” in my body. ~@StaceyCurnow
I love your question! BTW, if u aren’t already, u should follow ppl like msuster & fredwilson, they talk about such things! ~@theplanningcafe
My belief: yes, it can be taught, if the learner can get past some anti-entrepreneurial reflexes. ~@etherjammer
Good question! I think of drive as desire + willingness to work. And imho, the latter comes early or not at all. ~@biznicillin
And this one resonated loudest for me:
Made. Born of adversity. ~@MenwithPens
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What do you think?
Are entrepreneurs born or made? Lemme know down below…
*@kpdurand, @caffeinatedelf, @karenyaeger, and @willieljackson
Photo credit: zigazou76
