The problem with entrepreneurial cultureI used to tell people that I hated being called an entrepreneur. That puzzled a lot of people.
I used to tell people that I hated being called an entrepreneur. That puzzled a lot of people.
The first question I ask, as a follow-up, is what the hell does it mean to be an entrepreneur? (There is an answer, but most people do not have one)
But I think why I really do not identify with entrepreneurship is…
Entrepreneurial culture is misaligned with the realities of becoming a founder.
What does that mean?
We often depict the typical entrepreneur as a particular type of person. Even reading this, you have formed of an image in your mind. But the paradox is that entrepreneurs have to be atypical. They must embody being an outlier and different from the crowd.
Which brings me to my next, perhaps, unpopular point: entrepreneurship cannot be learned.
The media portrays all entrepreneurs to follow the same journey — starting with a whiteboard and ending with a pitch to thousands of people.
But that is not how it goes — ever. The reality is much different.
The reality is so perplexing and difficult that no words give it justice. You have to experience the gutwrenching pain of failing, hearing from customers, and getting told your idea is stupid to identify with your personal definition of an “entrepreneur.” But everyone has their own definition of the word.
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By jordangonen on March 9, 2016.
Exported from Medium on February 17, 2018.