ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Nature vs. Nurture of Successful Entrepreneurs

This essay delves into the fundamental question of whether entrepreneurs are inherently gifted or shaped by their environment and experiences. It explores the contrasting viewpoints, examining whether entrepreneurial traits are innate or cultivated through observation, training, and education. The essay provides examples of successful entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Larry Page, highlighting their unique approaches and the factors that contributed to their achievements. It also discusses the concept of intra-preneurs and the role of innovation and risk-taking in entrepreneurial success. The conclusion synthesizes the arguments, acknowledging that while some individuals may possess innate advantages, entrepreneurial skills are often developed through a combination of inherent traits and learned behaviors, emphasizing the importance of overcoming fear and embracing opportunities to realize business dreams.

Running head: ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneurship
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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Introduction:
Innovators who agree to take risks and generate new ideas for the creation of unique
solutions to the problems of the present world. The innovation helps in the revitalisation of new
organisations for the perceived opportunities. The start of any new business can be regarded as
the start of entrepreneurship. The term also includes the political and social forms of
entrepreneur activity. This is referred to as social entrepreneurship.
There are entrepreneurs possess innovative skills which help them in the utilisation of
problem solving. The entrepreneurial activities differ considerably based on the type of
organisation as well as the nature of creativity which is involved. Entrepreneurs possess great
capabilities which help them solve any issue easily. It is a matter of immense debate whether the
entrepreneurs are born or made. The entrepreneurs like “Bill gates, CJ Walker, Richard Branson,
Michael Dell” are successful entrepreneurs as they possess the required traits which actually lead
to their success (Barringer 2012).
“Entrepreneurs are born”:
Entrepreneurship is not about being only a personality with unshakable will or being a
creative genius but about being a person who can assist a person take a variety of risks.
Dependable sources state that individual entrepreneurs who can be born at any situation of their
lifetime and also from any dominion. They can also be found getting variety of personality traits
and particular characteristics of their own. “Highly successful entrepreneurs are well defined in
their particular work patterns and are not merely the product of any person’s luck and they
actually wait out on the future to check what lies in store in the future” (Drucker 2014).

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According to the opinions of a certain segment of people, entrepreneurs are born.
“Entrepreneurship is not just about understanding business plans and inventory management” but
it is actually a level of madness which makes persons to seemingly impossible heights which are
also responsible for dictating that the “laws of nature and practicality can be broken” (Bridge and
O'Neill 2012). Almost a majority of successful entrepreneurs are likely to state that they had to
build and create since the time they were a kid. In case the example of Tony Hsieh of Zappos and
LinkExchange is considered it can be seen that he hitched the ride of entrepreneurship train early
and had tried to resell worms in raw mud at the time when he was nine. Hsieh, Jobs and Wozniak
are all examples of leaders who were born and who felt passionately about the concept of doing
(Drucker 2014).
Entrepreneurship is a combination of personality type, passion as well as knowledge.
Entrepreneurship is something which has to be instilled within, it cannot be taught. In people
who already have the ability to lead, education does not have a significant impact on them.
Entrepreneurs are made:
Starting one’s own business can be a daunting task. Certain entrepreneurs are there, who
feel afraid to start their own business. Those individuals who have not taken the entrepreneurial
path can attest that being a person’s own boss can be extremely rewarding. According to a
certain segment of the people, “entrepreneurs are made not born”. It is usually believed that there
are certain qualities which contribute to the growth of entrepreneurs. Despite this fact, many
other factors also contribute to this particular opinion. Successful entrepreneurs like Mark
Zuckerberg provide suitable examples which help other would-be entrepreneurs reach their
respective goals (Neck and Greene 2011).

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According to a certain segment of the population, “entrepreneurs are made”. They are
made from their childhood, from their respective families and their life circumstances. They are
also made from the obstacles which they have to face in their lives, their failures as well
successes. Most importantly, the entrepreneurs are made from their past and present work
experiences (George and Bock 2011). It is commonly believed that the successful entrepreneurs
also believe that their journeys are mostly influenced by external factors. The authors of
successful entrepreneurial books also opine that entrepreneurs and those who have tasted success
have been impacted by several factors. The outward circumstances did not have much impact in
comparison to their inner qualities(Santos 2012).
Certain people believe that there are several implications for whatever and whoever are
considered to be entrepreneurial. The “have it or not” thought process of entrepreneurs leads to
mean that there are two groups of people, those who sacrifice everything to start their
entrepreneurial enterprise and others. In case the concept that entrepreneurs are made is
considered, another type of entrepreneurial individuals are intra-preneurs who work inside an
existing organisation (Kirzner 2015).
Examples of famous entrepreneurs:
Entrepreneurs are extremely disciplined, and do not always posses the luxury of staying
in a cushioned place. They also do not have a habit of living in pleasure. These people are also
successful marketers. The importance of the product or the nature of marketing are important.
“Bill Gates was a successful entrepreneur who influenced the lives of many future
leaders”. The crucial issue in this case is cultural in comparison to the technical. The true
innovation is the key to the success and fulfilment. Therefore the advancement of technology

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and the start up culture makes it crucial for individuals to be at the top of their games. In case of
Bill Gates, he used to give importance to time more than anything else. He was never afraid to
choose the road which was unexplored, and he also did not choose roads which were usually
taken. In any field the concept of innovation plays a crucial role. The faith and belief of Gates in
the principles he implemented led his company Microsoft to success (Drucker 2014).
Bill Gates also did not believe in the concept of giving up at any cost. He learnt a lot from
his life experiences and therefore tasted success due to the honesty of his endeavours. It can be
clearly stated that Bill Gates was a self made man and learnt a lot from his life experiences in
leading a lot of companies which he was a part of before joining Microsoft (Pott and Pott 2012).
Richard Branson also was a successful entrepreneur whose example is given to people.
He also believed in solving problems which were related to the office or place of work in the
workplace itself. In addition to this he believed that principles at home needed to be maintained
as being just in the workplace as well. He concentrated on the positive side of every individual. It
would also be possible for entrepreneurs to run a company and also achieve success. Branson
also believed in the concept of lifelong learning. It was believed by him that every situation
needed to be tackled accordingly. These considerations helped him achieve success as an
entrepreneur (Storey and Greene 2010).
Larry Page was also a successful entrepreneur who was the founder of Google along with
Sergey Brin. Larry Page was always an optimist and he believed that despite the severe most
problems in the world, the human capacity to solve all the issues in the world is possible. It was
not a question of ability but rather an issue of motivation for starting an organisation which deals
with problems. He believed that people need not be fearful at the time of taking risks. He always

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believed in innovating and developing business plans so as to benefit his organisation and the
target customers as a whole (Drucker 2014).
Conclusion:
Research shows that several entrepreneurs are self made and some have taken charge of
entrepreneurial activities from their parents. Research points to both the aspects, that of
entrepreneurs being either born or made. Entrepreneurial qualities are those skills which are
cultivated by means of observation, experience, training and education. Several victorious
entrepreneurs are first generation and there are some who have inherited entrepreneurial
capabilities from their parents. These, on the other hand point to the fact that entrepreneurs are
made not born.
The reason that stops the people from doing it, is actually the fear of the unknown. In
many cases the entrepreneurs are able to overcome the fear and they try to realise their dream.
All in all it can be said that entrepreneurs are both born as well as made. However the
entrepreneurs those who are born have a higher influence than those who are made. Becoming an
entrepreneur is also possible without having any sort of characteristics which are needed but the
people are required to face their fears in order to be successful. It has been the desire of people to
start a business of their own.

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References:
Barringer, B., 2012. Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures, (2012).
Barringer, E. and Ireland, R.D., 2010. Successfully Launching New Ventures. Pearson.
Baum, J.R., Frese, M. and Baron, R.A. eds., 2014. The psychology of entrepreneurship.
Psychology Press.
Bosma, N.S. and Levie, J., 2010. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2009 Executive Report.
Bridge, S. and O'Neill, K., 2012. Understanding enterprise: Entrepreneurship and small
business. Palgrave Macmillan.
Burns, P., 2016. Entrepreneurship and small business. Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
Drucker, P., 2014. Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.
George, G. and Bock, A.J., 2011. The business model in practice and its implications for
entrepreneurship research. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 35(1), pp.83-111.
Neck, H.M. and Greene, P.G., 2011. Entrepreneurship education: known worlds and new
frontiers. Journal of Small Business Management, 49(1), pp.55-70.
Pott, O. and Pott, A., 2012. Entrepreneurship. Unternehmensgründung, unternehmerisches
Handeln und rechtliche Aspekte, Heidelberg.
Santos, F.M., 2012. A positive theory of social entrepreneurship. Journal of business
ethics, 111(3), pp.335-351.

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Storey, D.J. and Greene, F.J., 2010. Small business and entrepreneurship. Financial
Times/Prentice Hall.