What makes an entrepreneur - this question has been thrown up at every accelerator, program and conference I have been to in the past year.
"A person who organises and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk." - dictionary.com
In 2012, Forbes wrote an article agreeing with this definition saying that "Entrepreneurs, in the purest sense, are those who identify a need - any need - and fill it.".
Entrepreneurs are changing the world at this very moment, forming the newest technologies and discovering problems that are effecting the lives of communities that haven't even been realised yet. "They are the real money multipliers: the ones who turn $1 of capital into $2..." (Forbes.com).
I have grown up in a family of entrepreneurs and know that these types of people are the ones that really do make the world go round. So when I logged into Facebook today and saw an article with the following title it made my blood boil.
Entrepreneurs don't have a special gene for risk - they come from families with money
To give you a bit of background:
- My maternal Grandfather was on the founding board of Chemmart
- My paternal Grandfather owned a number of successful businesses and franchises
- My Mum is a children's book author for health education activity books and has always worked as a program manager in not-for-profit organisations
- My Dad has been a manager of a number of different hospitality franchises and is a successful teacher with a main part of his job consisting of writing curriculums for new subjects
- I am founder and CEO of not for profit Little Dreamers Australia.
I have grown up in a family with a can-do attitude. We haven't always had a lot of money saved but that hasn't stopped us from changing the world.
Reading through the article published on Quartz, part of atlantic media, a digitally native news outlet for the new global economy, an online publication with over 550k followers I found a number of good points however the underlying message got under my skin.
The article mentions that resilience is necessary (as seen by a number of entrepreneurs who have failed first and succeeded later) - a definite trait that comes up in every entrepreneurial discussion group. It also states that risk-taking in the stock market saw environmental factors most influenced behaviour pointing out that risk tolerance is conditioned over time - also agreed upon by many entrepreneurs...entrepreneurship is typically nurtured by those you're surrounded by.
However, this is where my agreements with the article stop. I am completely of the opinion that entrepreneurs need some amount of money to get their ideas off the ground but for this money to have to come from "family money, an inheritance or a pedigree" is an assumption I can't stand. Connections are important in the world of entrepreneurship - but in today's world the internet and various social media channels including LinkedIn have made connections a lot easier to generate than those that come from family privilege.
Ross Levine from University of California, Berkeley says that "if one does not have money in the form of a family with money, the chances of becoming an entrepreneur drop quite a bit". I think this is a gross assumption that is based on the Bill Gates of the world. Sophia Amoruso, Nasty Gal is one of the most incredible entrepreneurs I know of and she definitely did not come from a cushy life with family money to set up her multi-million dollar fashion house.
Finally, a 31-year-old woman who runs in social entrepreneurship circles in New York (who asked not to be named) says "Following your dreams is dangerous, this whole bulk of the population is being seduced into thinking that they can just go out and pursue their dreams anytime, but it's not true". So Ms. No Name - why isn't it true? Why shouldn't people be following their dreams? I had a dream when I was 9 years old to change the lives of people who have been put into the position of caring for an unwell parent or sibling. By simply following this dream I have raised over $50,000, supported over 100 Young Carers and begun to bring this issue into the minds of the Australian public. I will continue to do this with family privilege or not.
Although some of the entrepreneurs that I know may have access to family wealth, not all do - I definitely didn't. What I did possess was a passion for helping others, a hardworking persona and a drive that hasn't wavered come rain, hail or shine.
In 2016 I would love nothing more than to see entrepreneurs, especially young entrepreneurs, prove that family privilege is not the primary source of success.
MB
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| You don't need to come from a privileged family to make a difference. My Mum, Dad and I at the Victorian Volunteers Award 2015. |
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