“Undertaking the creation of an enterprise or
business that has the chance of profit or success”
“Technology Ventures” by Dorf & Byers
But in reality
“Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity
beyond the resources you currently control.”
The earliest entrepreneurship and entrepreneur example as a go-between is Marco
Polo, who attempted to established trade route to the Far East. Often these are
merchant who took out adventurer activity (risk) to sell goods
In the Middle Ages, the term entrepreneur was used to describe both an actor and
a person who managed large production projects. A typical entrepreneur in the
Middle Ages was the cleric – the person in charge of great architectural works,
such as castles and fortification, public buildings, abbeys, and cathedrals.
The reemergent connection of risk with entrepreneurship developed in the 17th
century, with an entrepreneur being a person who entered into a contractual
arrangement with the government to perform a service or to supply stipulated
products. During this period entrepreneurs are those persons who buy products at
certain price and sell at an uncertain price, therefore operating at a risk.
John Law b. 1671- 1729
One famous entrepreneur in this period was John Law, a Frenchman, who was
allowed to establish Royal Bank. The bank eventually evolved into an exclusive
franchise to form a trading company in the New World – The Mississippi Company.
Unfortunately, this monopoly on French trade led to Law’s downfall when he
attempted to push the company’s stock price higher than the value of its assets,
leading to collapse of the company.
In the 18th century, the person with capital was differentiated from the one who
needed capital. In other world the entrepreneur was distinguished from the capital
provider ( the present day venture capitalist). One reason for this differentiation
was the industrialization occurring throughout the world. Many of the inventions
developed during this time were reactions to the changing world.
The famous entrepreneur in
this period was Thomas
Edison. Who raised capital
from private sources to develop
and experiment in the field of
electricity and chemistry.
In the late 19th and early 20the centuries, entrepreneurs were frequently not
distinguished from managers and were viewed mostly from an economic
Andrew Carnegie is one of the best example
of this period. Carnegie invented nothing,
but rather adapted and developed new
technology in the creation of products to
achieve economic vitality. Carnegie, who
descended from a poor Scottish family, made
the American steel industry one of the
wonders of the industrial world, primarily
through his unremitting competitiveness
rather than his inventiveness or creativity.
In the middle of 20th century, the notion of an entrepreneur as an innovator was
established. The function of the entrepreneur in this period is to reform or revolutionize
the pattern of production by exploiting an invention or, more generally, an untried
technological method of producing a new commodity or producing an old one in a new
way, opening a new source of supply of materials or a new outlet for products, by
organizing a new industry.
John Pierpont Morgan, who developed his large banking house by reorganizing and
financing the nation’s industries, is best example of this period. This organizational
innovations is frequently as difficult to develop successfully as the more traditional
technological innovations (transistor, computers, lasers) that are usually associated with
being an entrepreneur.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The ability to innovate can be observed throughout history, from the
Egyptians who designed and built great pyramids out of stone blocks
weighing many tons each, to the Apollo lunar module, to laser surgery,
to wireless communication. Although the tools have changed with
advances in science and technology, the ability to innovate has been
present in every civilization.
The concept of an entrepreneur and entrepreneurship is further refined when principle and terms from a
business, managerial, and personal perspective are considered
Today, in almost all the definition of entrepreneurship, there is agreement that we are talking about a kind of
behavior that includes:
• Initiative Taking
• The organizing and reorganizing of social and economic mechanisms to turn resources and situation to
• The acceptance of risk or failure.
“Entrepreneurship is the process of creating something new with value by devoting the necessary time and
efforts, assuming the accompanying financial, psychic, and social risk, and receiving the resulting rewards
of monetary and personal satisfaction and independence.