Definition of Entrepreneurship

Who should become an entrepreneur?

In 1998, while in business school someone asked me - What is entrepreneurship? The question was from someone who thought very little of those planning their own ventures, the tone was mocking, saying: Do you even know what entrepreneurship is?

In one of my rare comebacks, I replied:

It's jumping off a cliff, without a parachute, and stitching one on the way down.

Then, it was meant to highlight the risky and therefore Cool nature of entrepreneurship and was also a not so subtle snub, on the lines of - you don't have the guts.

I liked that spontaneous explanation so much that I've used it in some form in almost every business speech I have given over the last two decades.

Now, with more experience and hopefully some maturity, I use it to highlight the need to make the jump with complete awareness of the low probability of success, to dissuade those who harbor romantic notions of the entrepreneurial journey or have fantasies about a big pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Entrepreneurship is tough, painful, and requires a level of persistence that few are prepared for. And very few ever see the pot of gold.

So, who should become an entrepreneur? In my opinion, above all, those who are passionate and committed to solving a problem.