My answer has always been: “Definitely made”. I believe that the brain is a mighty awesome place. I think that humans can learn anything with enough effort. A skill, a profession, the lyrics of a song: anything can be conquered if you apply your mind.
This post will examine in more detail how an entrepreneur is made.
The traditional wisdom goes something like this: think of an idea, write a business plan, find a business partner, get an investor, sell your product, profit and repeat.
However, there are more ways and places than ever before to learn about entrepreneurship and eventually become an entrepreneur.
Can it be learned?
Perhaps the first question to ask is whether entrepreneurship can be learned at all, and if so, how can it be learned?
Two weeks ago, I was happy to be invited to participate in the Young Professionals Forum event held by McKinsey’s Montreal office. The forum brought together about 50 young professionals from around the city to discuss entrepreneurship and more specifically what can be done to develop a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in Montreal.
The two invited speakers were Eric Boyko, founder of Stingray Digital (which operates the Galaxie music network), and social entrepreneur Jean-Francois Archambault, founder of La Tablée des Chefs.
Both entrepreneurs spoke about how their early days as entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneur Archambault recounted starting up a small lawn-mowing company in his teenage years with his brother and father’s financial backing. Boyko told the audience about his experience starting up Campus Gourmet, a small catering business selling pre-cooked meals to McGill University students. Boyko later started eFundraising.com, an online scratch card business that “he started with a $2,000 loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada and sold at the height of the Internet boom” for a hefty sum (1).
Perhaps one of Boyko’s most intriguing comments was about his belief that entrepreneurs are born, not made. Boyko believes that entrepreneurs share an “entrepreneurial DNA or fiber” that leads them to pursue adventurous projects, in the same way that he believes that great painters or artists are born with a special gift. (That said, Boyko also balanced his view by attributing some credit to his parents as playing a key role in helping to make him the entrepreneur that he has become today.)
Personally, I believe entrepreneurship is open to all. Anyone can become an entrepreneur. That said, learning entrepreneurship will require considerable time, effort, sacrifice, risk tolerance and open-mindedness. It will require multiple iterations on your initial plans, the ability to overcome setbacks and thousands of hours of practice. Entrepreneurship is definitely not easy, but I believe it can be learned. The school of entrepreneurship is difficult, but rewarding.
Can it be taught?
If entrepreneurship can be learned, perhaps a more interesting corollary question is whether entrepreneurship can be taught.
In my mind, this is much less clear. I really think entrepreneurship definitely implies some amount of direct participation, if not full immersion.
Business schools around the world that teach courses like “Entrepreneurial Marketing” or “Entrepreneurial Ventures” are great at setting the stage for students to have informed conversations about entrepreneurship, but there is simply no substitute for “just doing it”. Many entrepreneurs will tell you that you can learn more in 2 months by starting a startup (or working in one) than in 2 years of business school.
Reading about entrepreneurship and discussing it are important, but they remain insufficient to become an entrepreneur. Super angel Dave McClure of 500 startups recently offered this advice to young entrepreneurs:
I’d rather see you fail at your own startup than be successful at reading about someone else’s.” I believe that is right on the money. Entrepreneurship can be learned, it might also be taught, but more than anything it has to be lived.
Just Doing it
Perhaps the single most essential aspect of learning entrepreneurship is to just do it.
I started my first business at 16. It was far from perfect on day one. Actually, it was far from perfect even several years later, but it was definitely better than on day one! That said, learning from previous projects has made me a much better entrepreneur today at Busbud. Only practice makes perfect. If you’re anything like me, you probably won’t be awesome on the first try.
Fellow Montreal entrepreneur Sam Vermette, co-founder and CEO of Transit app (a recent Founder Fuel alum company and awesome app for public transit), recently published an excellent post about his courageous decision to shut down his previous app Shows, after 4 years of development. He recounts how initial traction seemed hard to sustain and how getting revenue was a much longer process than expected:
[blockquote text=”I used to think all it took for an app to take off was good design, and that word of mouth and design-sensitive bloggers would take care of the rest. Turns out this only works for a few days. Because marketing your app as an indie dev has never been harder than it is today. Ironically, building one has never been easier.” show_quote_icon=”yes”]
Again, entrepreneurship is not easy. That said, I believe that everything Sam has learned building Shows has made him a more well-rounded entrepreneur today as he now leads the charge with Transit app. Whether it’s developing a world-class product, building a massive audience or attracting engineering talent to work with him, Sam learned all of these startups lessons by just doing it — not by watching from sidelines.
Focus on Building, not Starting
Last month, I was asked by three different journalists what my definition of an entrepreneur was.
I had never really thought about this. My gut answer was “someone who can build a business”. I later checked Merriam Webster’s and they define an entrepreneur as “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise” (2). I partly agree. I think an entrepreneur is someone who is not only able to “operate”, or “manage” a business, but one who can “build” or “grow” one. It’s not about starting or managing, it’s about growing.
In fact, it’s never been easier to start a startup. After a few clicks on a domain name registrar to buy “yournewstartupname.com” and a quick call to an attorney to register your business, you’re basically ready to transact. That said, it’s also much harder than before to actually build/grow a business. Hundreds of new startups launch around the world every day. This creates a competition for precious resources such as talent, customers and press attention. Young entrepreneurs should be aware of this new reality.
Once the business is launched and off the ground, the challenge then becomes to successfully manage/grow it to achieve your vision and reach your goals. Of course, this implies finding a business model to make your business sustainable. Building a product is not sufficient. You need to be able, as venture investor Mark Suster said in his excellent post, to ring the cash register. As we’ve seen, developing a sustainable business model can be a long, iterative and painstaking process.
Unfortunately, there is no elevator to success in startup world, you have to take the stairs!
Getting a Foot in the Door
To become an awesome entrepreneur one day, you can either build your own business, or work at a startup where you are learning about building a business. I believe that the key is to put yourself in a position where you can learn about actually “building” a business.
What you pick between those two options will vary based on your appetite for risk at a given time. If you choose to work in a startup, you’ll learn a ton of useful lessons about building a business. Plus, working for a startup actually lets you earn money and learn about how to build a business on someone else’s dime!
Fortunately, for those interested in learning about entrepreneurship, there are several ways to learn how to build a business even without starting one! I think that these are some of the best:
- Working full-time at a startup
- Interning at a startup over the summer
- Working part-time at a startup (while in school or perhaps while working on your own startup).
- Working in a small business (larger than a startup) in a key operational role.
- Being an intrapreneur in a larger company (although you will still have access to many more resources than a typical startup, and the lessons learned may not be as transferable to a startup environment)
- Find a role in a non-business entrepreneurial venture, such as starting an NGO (although the experience may not correlate directly to a business context).
Do you have marketing skills or can you manage social media? Try to find an opening for a communications manager at a growing startup. Started to code recently and want to learn in a team environment? Many startups have openings for paid junior dev roles.
For those looking to learn at other startups instead of starting their own, try sites like Intern Sushi or Angel List, visit the jobs pages of the startups you are interested in, or check with local VCs (hint: in Montreal, check the jobs pages of Real Ventures, iNovia, Rho and others for jobs in early-stage startups). Better yet, earn intros to relevant people at these startups through your networks.
I would advise working in other startups directly as much as possible, rather than larger businesses. Typically, a startup will have between 5 and 25 to 50 employees, although it can rapidly add headcount as it grows. If you are working in a company with 250 employees, you will likely learn a specific set of skills rather than learn to build a business in a broader sense.
Developing your Networks
A second very important way of learning entrepreneurship other than “just doing it” is by developing your networks.
Your networks are critical because they are how you can:
- Discover opportunities (in entrepreneurship, opportunities are everything)
- Meet people who share similar passions, skills and challenges
- Learn about events happening in your entrepreneurial ecosystem
- Stay current with industry news and trends
- Broadcast messages about your ideas to others around you.
There are several networks you will seek to develop:
1. Your Social Network
Your immediate social network, which includes your family, friends, friends of friends, neighbours, classmates and such, is surprisingly important.
First off, this is the group that will support your entrepreneurial efforts and cheer you on. As previously mentioned, the entrepreneurial path is littered with setbacks. Having a solid bunch of folks around you to help you get through harder times is essential.
Also, your immediate social network could generate potential co-founders, co-workers, advisors or even early/angel investors. In my case, my two current co-founders Mike and Fred are good friends from high school and college respectively. One of our first hires on the business side, Thomas, was also a friend and classmate from high school.
2. Your Business Network
Your business network can be especially important to develop to meet like-minded people in a given industry that you are interested in, as well as potential collaborators.
Using LinkedIn proficiently is critical. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the right people in startups at any level, especially if you have something interesting to offer.
Keep in mind that the most awesome people are also often the busiest and the most solicited. Venture capitalists Brad Feld, Mark Suster, Charlie O’Donnell and Boris Wertz all published great posts recently on the topics of “giving before getting” and “earning the right to ask”. You should read and understand these principles before you reach out to busy people like CEOs and investors.
Another great way to expand your business network is to become a thought leader, or even just to share your stories/opinions with others. Forbes recently published a good piece on ”How Becoming A Thought Leader Can Build Your Business” (3). Starting to blog is an easy way to have conversations with a broader set of people. I can definitely attest that starting my Swell blog has generated all sorts of new and interesting acquaintances. Giving a conference is also a great way to put yourself out there and spread your ideas. Earlier this year, I spoke at TEDx and recently submitted a proposal to give a talk at the SXSW mega-conference in Austin with fellow Montreal entrepreneurs. Participating in these types of events, alone or with friends, can definitely help you build your business network.
3. Your Startup Ecosystem Network
There are many organizations that support budding entrepreneurs in each city.
I’ve dedicated a separate post titled Entrepreneurship in Montreal to listing all the groups and events that support local entrepreneurs in Montreal.
Taking a risk
Startups are risky business. They require entrepreneurs to take significant personal, professional and financial risk.
Attitude towards risk is thus another critical piece in the framework, in addition to “just doing it” and “developing your networks”.
No amount of academics or learning will magically transform you into a risk-seeking or risk-tolerant individual. The same is also valid for work experience. Actually, working for 5 years in a consulting or legal firm may actually increase your tendency to avoid or mitigate risk, rather than take it on.
Rather, your attitude towards risk is the result of a multitude of factors, including your academic background and work experience indeed, but also your personal savings available, motivation from parents/friends/community, knowledge/exposure to startup environments, and a host of other elements.
When I was young, I remember reading an article about Montreal entrepreneur Daniel Langlois and his quest to make Softimage the creative tool of reference for 3D visual effects. This single press article led me to understand the incredible power of startups and ended up having a significant impact on my decision to choose the entrepreneurial path. I was amazed that technology built right here locally was responsible for the effects seen in worldwide blockbusters like Titanic, Jurassic Park and The Fifth Element. Simply knowing more about other successful startups from Montreal helped to shape my attitude towards risk. It suddenly seemed more possible to build an industry-leading startup that would be competitive at the world level right here from Montreal.
Conversely, a few years ago, I wrote case studies available in the Harvard Business Review on the founders of Silicon Valley darlings Pandora and Twitter in the early days of those startups. Both case studies illustrate how, back then, the founders were ready to forego financial stability, take difficult personal decisions or even bet the company to get their startups off the ground. Startups can indeed be all-consuming. Preparing these two cases also shifted my attitude towards risk in the opposite direction, realizing how painstaking it can be to create a successful startup company.
In Quebec, it would seem that our appetite for risk is actually lower on aggregate than in the rest of Canada. McKinsey presented the audience at the Young Professionals Forum some research prepared by the Fondation de l’Entrepreneurship that seemed to illustrate that we have lower desire for risk:
- 15% of Quebecers have the intent of starting a business, compared to 21% for the rest of Canada (ROC).
- Only 6% of Quebecers actually then carried out the process of starting a company, compared to 9% for the ROC.
- Also, Quebecers were less willing to risk/invest personal savings to start a business (only 30% compared to 45% for the ROC), relying more on governmental programs (21% compared 8% for the ROC).
- Even more alarmingly, the data suggests that Quebecers seemed overall much less ambitious in terms of growth for startup businesses (33% compared to 44% for the ROC).
It thus seems that the attitude towards risk in Quebec may be more conservative than elsewhere in Canada. (Note: Other pundits however dispute this claim citing other sources.)
Many audience members at the McKinsey event were quick to identify “entrepreneurship education” as a potential avenue to help solve this issue. Mandatory curriculum classes in high-school or CEGEP were often suggested. There was also some discussion about locating high-potential entrepreneurial students at an earlier age and supporting them more. Pan-Canadian organizations like Founder Project and the The Next 36, as well as projects like Velocity program at the University of Waterloo, have already making great strides in this regard. Social entrepreneur JF Archambault even suggested an “American idol”-like show to find and fund the best young entrepreneurs!
Mining vs. Harvesting
In many ways, the debate about whether entrepreneurs are born or made can be summarized in this dichotomy.
If you believe that humans are born with an innate talent, natural pre-disposition and propensity to take on risk to start businesses, then all we have do as a society is find and mine those talents.
If you believe like me that entrepreneurs are made over time by practice and support, then it’s our duty as a society to foster the emergence of more entrepreneurs.
Of course, we already do this in many ways through various government programs and at large in our ecosystem. But are we doing enough? Are we planting enough seeds to cultivate more entrepreneurs for the future of Quebec? What could we do to grow more?
Hopefully, this blog post has given a few more paths to explore to those thinking about following the entrepreneurial way.
I’ll be a gardener if you will too.
Together, let’s plants some seeds. Let’s talk about entrepreneurship in schools. Let’s attract the best talent to startups. Let’s invest in and help our startups flourish.
I think that it is everyone’s responsibility to promote the importance of entrepreneurship for our future. Entrepreneurs create businesses, which in turn create jobs and tax revenue for government. The capitalist engine is far from perfect, but it is undoubtedly the driving force of long-term prosperity.
Entrepreneurs are the heart and soul of this cycle and of our future.
Being in The Parade
Perhaps the best summary of this discussion on entrepreneurship are the words Eric Boyko left the audience with at the McKinsey forum last week:
There are 3 types of people in the world: Those in the parade, those watching the parade and those who weren’t even aware that a parade was being held.”
To become an entrepreneur: You must be in the parade.