Entrepreneurship: The Dark Side and Success Factors

Entrepreneurship 1
ENTREPRENEURESHIP
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Entrepreneurship 2
Entrepreneurship
Executive Summary
Entrepreneurship is arguably a debatable concept in regards to whether it is inborn or
learned. Although it is not clear which of the two perspectives is true, it is apparent that the
personality trait of an entrepreneur has significant impacts on success. It is the ‘dark side’ of
entrepreneurship that defines whether success will be achieved or not. In this report, the case of
GoPro is analyzed and its key marketing strategies that have created a competitive strategy are
identified. Furthermore, threats such as competition, technology changes and price fluctuations
in the market are also assessed. Recommendations on how to handle each of these issues are also
presented. In general, the analysis of GoPro shows that it is still in the right track despite the
challenges in the market. This success is however owed to the resilience and determination of the
entrepreneur Nick Woodman.
Part A.
Introduction
In most cases, becoming a successful entrepreneur is determined by the entrepreneurial
personality traits of a person. The zeal and resilience to compete in the market despite challenges
and threats of failure shape how one decided to think. For this case study, GoPro succeeded
because of the dedication of Woodman in his quest to provide consumers with an opportunity to
capture, share and view content in a more convenient way (Mac, 2013). This report highlights
several issues based on the GoPro case study and about existing theories and practice.
Traits Associated with the Dark Side of Entrepreneurship
While entrepreneurs make decisions to either venture in a particular market or not, their
decisions are guided by three primary ‘dark side’ entrepreneurial traits. First, the need for control

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of the product design and the market can become an obsession. In some cases, entrepreneurs
become filled with fantasies and yearn for powers, influence, and authority, yet they feel helpless
in themselves (Miller, 2015). Just like Woodman, he envisioned to design the best GoPro camera
but was handling all the tasks by himself, ranging from, research and development, design, sales
to marketing. With such a trait, some of the entrepreneurs fail to realize their actual potential.
Second, the dark side of entrepreneurs is characterized by a sense of distrust. Just like the
desire for control, proclivity towards suspicion defines most entrepreneurs. In essence, most
entrepreneurs live in fear and usually prepare in advance just in case anything happens. Although
it is considered a dark side of entrepreneurship, its impacts on success have been enormous.
Ideally, most businesspersons, take mitigation plans/strategies in advance due to mistrust of the
environment around them (Eberhart & Eesley, 2018). Such was a step take by Woodman during
the global financial crisis by refusing to sell off the entity but instead took a risk that made the
business grow despite the economic downturn (Mac, 2013).
Lastly, external optimism also sums up as one of the dark side entrepreneurship traits.
Whenever an entrepreneur becomes so optimistic of success and desire for applause sets in, it
possible for them to start using fantasies in business. Under such circumstances, trends in
business, reports, and facts are all ignored as optimism inclines the entrepreneur to think
everything will be just fine (Miller, 2015). In the process, the business can take a downturn and
run into huge losses — only rare cases of external optimism in entrepreneurship yield positive
results.
Is What We Hear About Entrepreneurship Wrong?
Different scholars can have different opinions about whether entrepreneurship is natural
talent or a learned skill. However, one thing remains constant, without background knowledge

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about business an entrepreneur is deemed to fail in executing his/her business. Most of what is
said about entrepreneurship as being magical, genetically inborn or mysterious are all
misconceptions. It takes discipline and self-dedication to the course of the business for a venture
to succeed. Notably, social entrepreneurship requires one to be highly skilled in interacting with
people from different races (Dacin, Dacin, and Tracey, 2011). Such values are mostly learned
than being inborn in a person.
Based on the case study of GoPro, various elements thatrefute that claim and proves that
discipline is key in entrepreneurship if success is to be realized. First, the founder of GoPro,
Woodman, started with just an idea and with the little education he got, his discipline guided him
to establishing the company. In this case, it is evident that nothing magical or mysterious
happened to make the entrepreneurship success of Woodman a reality. In real life, some big
businesses like Microsoft were founded by school dropouts. However, the successfulness of their
entrepreneurial activities has largely leveraged on learned skills in the courses they took as well
as experience in life. Notably, most entrepreneurs leverage on reflective observation and abstract
conceptualization to come up with feasible ideas of running their businesses (Pena, 2016).
Secondly, Woodman first studied the market sufficiently to get a clear picture of what
needs to be done, and all the avenues available to introduce a unique product in the market.
Particularly his trips to Australia and Indonesia were just a few ways of learning how best he can
integrate the skills he possessed, those he leaned and the market situation. Under this approach, it
is clear that the idea of entrepreneurship is learned and not genetically transferred from parents to
children. The discipline displayed by Woodman was sufficient to keep the business growing and
to expand. Theoretically, entrepreneurship is supposed to be both at the core of the heart and
mind, but all decisions have to be based on known facts which cannot be naturally known to