ENTREPRENEUR

What is an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is someone who starts a company to bring a new idea to market. They own the company in whole or part, funding the venture themselves or with resources contributed by family, friends, or investors. This gives the entrepreneur a significant share in the risk and reward from their company’s success. Entrepreneurs are seen as having much greater autonomy of action, when compared with corporate explorers operating within corporations.

What are the core characteristics of having an entrepreneurial mindset?

The core characteristic of an entrepreneurial mindset is their ability to identify unserved or underserved customer needs. They then move quickly to develop a solution to meet that need, experimenting rapidly, learning from failure, and leveraging the talent of others to build a successful business. They also need to be able to communicate their value proposition to investors, employees and customers, and the ability to find the funding and resources needed to incubate their idea.

How does an entrepreneur fit into corporate innovation?

Over eighty percent of successful entrepreneurs sell their companies to corporations, with the rest remaining private companies or listing them on a stock exchange. This makes entrepreneurs vital to corporate innovation efforts. They are also hired as individual entrepreneurs-in-residence to help corporations develop fundable concepts to commercialize inside or outside the company.

How is an entrepreneur the same as a corporate explorer?

Entrepreneurs are the same as Corporate Explorers in that they both incubate new business ventures. Both need to secure support and funding; entrepreneurs tend to rely on venture capitalists and angel investors, whereas Corporate Explorers rely on funding and support from inside a corporation.

How is an entrepreneur different from a corporate explorer?

Entrepreneurs are different from corporate explorers because corporate explorers most often originate from inside a corporation and are a known entities. Corporate Explorers’ financial stakes (as well as their rewards) may be less than their entrepreneurial counterparts.