MULTIPLE RESPONSES: Definition / Measurement of successful entrepreneur

[entrepreneurship-phd at lists.uni-due.de]

-----Response 1-----

From: Alistair Campbell [mailto:Alistair.Campbell at unisa.edu.au] 
Date: Sat 10 Jan 2009 09:27

Dear Putri

No doubt you will receive many answers, and I'm sure they will prove
useful in trying to clarify what you wish to define as "successful
entrepreneurs" for your doctoral research.

Survival is certainly a key aspect of success, as you have already
identified. May I suggest that you also include aspects of what
entrepreneurs themselves consider "success" - my experience is that
entrepreneurs consider "more than just money" when reflecting on whether
they consider themselves successful or not. If you can include some of
this in your definition, in my opinion you will access some really
important but seldom-mentioned information.

Best regards

Alistair Campbell
University of South Australia

-----Response 2-----

From: Wade Lovell [mailto:wadelovell at gmail.com] 
Date: Fri 9 Jan 2009 19:05

Dear Putri:

I believe you need to painstakingly define "successful entrepreneurs". 
There are exceptional entrepreneurs who achieve success and retire in 
fewer than five years or move on to the next venture. There are 
unsuccessful entrepreneurs who morph from one marginal venture to the 
next under the same or similar company names. There are incredible 
people whose entrepreneurial spirit is unquestionable who cannot run a 
viable business venture and fail to release the reins in time to salvage

the commercial potential. Your current metric is unidimensional and 
poorly defined along that single axis. It seems you are defining success

as the ability to feed oneself for five years or at least not exhaust 
ones wealth in five years whether or not that wealth is self-generated 
(trust, spouse, investment, etc.).

Your thesis covers two topics: 1) factors that lead to developing 
entrepreneurs; and, 2) factors that lead to developing an entrepreneur's

commercial success. As presently stated, your thesis purports to be the 
Venn diagram of the two topics. I tend to think of these topics as being

sequential for pedantic reasons but they are not constrained by that 
artifice. First one identifies and nurtures or develops an entrepreneur.

(I am not personally convinced entrepreneurs are developed in an 
academic setting but rather the academic setting allows people to 
experiment without the severe consequences that would result from the 
same experimentation in the "real world" thereby allowing them to 
discover their entrepreneurial side.) Second, once revealed or 
identified under some set of criteria as an entrepreneur the question 
becomes what factors lead to success. Now, whether success is 
independence, self-reliance, inner peace, financial independence, etc. 
is for you to determine for your definition in your thesis.

Hobos of the '30's and '40's were poor but independent. Some claimed 
through written word or song to have found inner peace. Many rode the 
rails for more than five years. Would Hobos have been successful 
entrepreneurs under your definition. The definition of successful 
entrepreneur should include a real or perceived contribution to the 
outside world. Shouldn't it? How then does one reconcile the "genius" of

the Pet Rock with the definition of a successful entrepreneur? 
(Perceived contribution, actual commercial success. These are common 
characteristics of "fads".) Are the members of the old IBM Skunk Works 
entrepreneurs or just good corporate citizens? Is a general contractor 
an entrepreneur if s/he follows in his/her parent's footsteps? What if 
s/he never perceived s/he had any choice? What about the children of 
cattle ranchers who, until the last forty years, generally inherited a 
piece, if not all, of the family spread? Were the 3M employees who 
developed Post-It Notes good corporate citizens or entrepreneurs? If I 
form a company and it runs its lifecycle, am I still an entrepreneur if 
the lifecycle was four years? What if I don't form a new venture for 
fifteen years because I had money and took the time to raise a family or

sail around the world? Can a politician ever be an entrepreneur? A 
Kennedy? No. Barack Obama?

I have started a number of companies. Was I more of an entrepreneur when

I co-headed private placements and securitization for a $15 billion 
thrift or when I switched seats and became an outside consultant to the 
RTC after it seized Imperial Corporation of America? Was I only truly an

entrepreneur when I had employees? When I was finally running teams of 
up to 25 contractors under my own corporate shell? Was I an entrepreneur

ten years earlier when I worked for Arthur Andersen & Co. or not until 
twenty years later when I added tax and financial services under the LLA

Financial Ltd. umbrella using my CPA and other licenses? These are 
things I do not have to contemplate. But you should. One is generally 
not an entrepreneur for five years out of a fifty year career. But very 
few people have fifty year careers as entrepreneurs.

I agree with your panel because, as I see it, your definition is the 
most important aspect of your thesis. Without the correct working 
definition you cannot determine what you are looking for and at what 
point in the career cycle.

Good luck and please let me know your final working definition of a 
"successful entrepreneur".

Best regards,
Wade Lovell

-----Response 3-----

From: a.r.anderson at rgu.ac.uk [mailto:a.r.anderson at rgu.ac.uk] 
Date: Fri 9 Jan 2009 18:14

Dear Putri

This is NOT a measure of anything other than survival. It is not success
which is a very subjective term. Without knowing the context of your
work it is difficult to make a useful suggestion. But broadly you  could
ask them to rate themselves, but that raises issues of  data which is
hard to compare. Alternatively you could operationalise the question in
terms of their original objectives. Here the problem is that businesses
learn new objectives and may be successful (in hard measurable terms)
only by changing their objectives.

In fact I would try to avoid this sort of evaluation in setting up your
proposal. Indeed there is a great PhD in actually examining the nature
of success in new businesses!

Alistair R Anderson
FSB Professor

-----Response 4-----

From: Raymond Ng [mailto:wealthconsultant at yahoo.com] 
Date: Fri 9 Jan 2009 18:05

Hi Putri,
 
These are some of my take on entrepreneurs that will succeed:
 
1. Ability to exercise financial discipline especially during the
formative years.
2. Is an expert in that business
3. Ability to rope in experts to complement the business
4. Willingness to share the fruits of its labor equitably
5. Willingness to accept failure and be resilience to move forward
6. Ability to lead a team 
7. Read 
8. Be on the ground at all times
9. Be very upfront with customers and never over-promise 
10. Always show a good exercise
11. Be humane
12. Network
13. Smile
 
Hope the above helps.
 
Best Wishes,
 
Raymond Ng
Singapore