What Everyone Gets Wrong About Entrepreneurship
What Everyone Gets Wrong About Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneur Office Hours - Issue #248
Someone recently asked me how many students major in entrepreneurship at my university. She was surprised when I told her nobody majors in entrepreneurship because, where I teach, it’s not a major. It’s a certificate program, which exists somewhere between a major and a minor, so it’s something students do in addition to their majors.
“Why can’t students major in entrepreneurship,” she asked. “Seems like it would be helpful for anyone who wants to build a business.”
“Entrepreneurship isn’t really about building businesses,” I replied.
She was very confused by my response. And, of course, she’s not alone. Most people hear the word “entrepreneurship” and they immediately think “creating businesses.”
But that’s not what entrepreneurship is, and, in order to explain why, I’ll explain it in the context of how we run the entrepreneurship program at my university.
For us, entrepreneurship is a process of identifying significant problems and creating effective solutions to help address those problems. This is important for two reasons:
Every discipline and industry has significant problems in need of solutions; and,
Businesses are rarely the most effective solutions to those problems.
Because of these two things, we like to think of our entrepreneurship program as a sort of application layer that sits on top of whatever a student is majoring in regardless of whether it’s computer science or dance.
I bring this up because I think it’s a helpful way to understanding entrepreneurship more broadly. Entrepreneurship isn’t really a thing that exists on its own. Almost by definition, entrepreneurship exists as a compliment to some other industry or discipline.
In other words, entrepreneurship is a mindset — a way of thinking and approaching problems rather than a discipline centered around building companies. And I’m writing about it here because it’s an important distinction for every entrepreneur to consider, particularly the ones who are mired in the challenges of building their startups.
Remember that entrepreneurship isn't confined to startups or business ventures. Entrepreneurship is about being equipped to identify problems, create solutions, and drive change — no matter where you are or what field you’re in. This means the focus of what you’re working on shouldn’t be whatever you’re building. Entrepreneurs should always stay focused on solving meaningful problems. When you’re focused on solving meaningful problems, everything else will take care of itself.
-Aaron
This week’s new articles…
Why Most Fundraising Pitches Fail Within the First 5 Minutes
The investors you’re pitching already know exactly what they’re looking for, but do you know?
What if More Competition Is Actually Good for Your Startup?
Too many entrepreneurs think competition is a bad thing, but savvy entrepreneurs know better
Office Hours Q&A
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QUESTION:
Hey Aaron,
I'm in the early stages of my startup and constantly finding myself short on time. I like your takes on so many other things about entrepreneurship. I’m wondering: Do you have any personal tips or tools you swear by that you’d be willing to share for helping you manage your schedule more effectively?
- Chris
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As someone who is perpetually way too busy and over-committed, I’m probably not the best person to answer this question.
I can tell you all the theoretical answers: prioritize; use time blocking; leverage technologies; set boundaries; automate repetitive tasks.
I’m sure there are dozens of other suggestions that might work, too. Google them and maybe something will work for you.
If I’m being honest, I’ve just learned to accept busyness as a constant state of life. In fact, I find it fulfilling, and the occasional moments when I’m just sitting on my couch doing nothing because I don’t have any pressing deadlines… those moments feel unfulfilling.
To be clear, you should absolutely be thoughtful and intentional about how you use your time. But also accept that being thoughtful and intentional about your time isn’t going to suddenly make an entrepreneurial person “not busy.” It’s just going to free up time that you’ll quickly fill by doing something else.
Got startup questions of your own? Reply to this email with whatever you want to know, and I’ll do my best to answer!
