Romanticising entrepreneurs?

The Economist's Schumpeter states:

"… the reality [for an entrepreneur] can be as romantic as chewing glass."

Schumpeter's article referenced here highlights the simple fact that a true entrepreneur, the absolute risk taker with his or her time and money, is not understood and misunderstood by almost all of those who are not.

"Over half of American startups are gone within five years. Most of the survivors barely stumble along. Shikhar Ghosh of Harvard Business School (HBS) found that three-quarters of startups backed by venture capital—the crème de la crème—failed to return the capital invested in them, let alone generate a positive return. In 2000 Barton Hamilton of Washington University in St Louis compared the income distributions of American employees and entrepreneurs, and concluded that the latter earned 35% less over a ten-year period than those in paid jobs."

I lived in North Carolina for five years, and had the opportunity to be the president of The Indus Entrepreneurs - Carolinas chapter.  One of its founders was Mr. Vivek Wadhwa:

"Vivek Wadhwa, an entrepreneur turned academic, had a heart attack when he had just turned 45, after taking one company public and reviving another."

I as an entrepreneur am biased towards experiential learnings rather than acamedia teaching one to be an entrepreneur.  Though now having gone through 2002 and 2008 economic melt downs as an entrepreneur and recovered successfully, I simply choose to walk away from the pundits and so called experts on entrepreneurism.

You are born an entrepreneur or not.  See further proof in my blog "Its in the genes" here.

Read the complete article here.