Creators of the New Economy

Tweet

That's true, but the fact that bankers, venture capitalists, and angel investors, as well as potential suppliers, alliance partners, and customers, have come to expect well-executed spreadsheets means that not even great ideas will capture their attention these days if they come scrawled on the back of an envelope. Professional entrepreneurs today don't just have great ideas; they have great ideas and know how to plan their execution and know which capital sources to approach. Professional entrepreneurs don't just do, they understand what they're doing.

I guess it's good news that along with sports stars and rap artists Americans have even begun to celebrate business stars. Maybe they're not as famous, but readers of business periodicals and books now recognize right off names like Packard, Grove, McGowan, Iverson, Fields, Kapor, Perot, Kelly, Stemberg, and Dell--entrepreneurs all. Not to mention Gates, of course. And there are scores more who could make the list--Jim Clark at Netscape, and maybe even Bill Gross, who was featured on the cover of Inc. in February.

While the professional entrepreneur raises the general level of professionalism now required of anyone trying to break into the business, it is in many ways easier to be an entrepreneur today than in the '50s, '60s, and '70s. For starters, your character is not immediately suspect. It is more pleasant to be admired than disrespected, or worse, pitied.

But it's not that easy. After a few minutes of conversation, Bill Wetzel allows that the term professional entrepreneur strikes him as oxymoronic. "Starting a business is still a sloppy process," he says, "even if some of the sloppiness has been removed."

To find out what we at Inc. think the professional entrepreneur of today looks like, turn to " The Evolution of the Professional Entrepreneur."

Tom Richman is an editor at large at Inc.

Resources

If you're serious about sharpening your business skills, you could do worse than begin your course of study with Peter F. Drucker's venerable (1954) Practice of Management (HarperCollins, 800-207-7000, 1993, $16). A more recent addition to business libraries, Michael E. Porter's Competitive Strategy (Simon & Schuster, 800-223-2336, 1984, $37.50; a reprint is due out this year), recommends ways to evaluate the strategic viability of individual industries. W. Edwards Deming made a name for himself in the emerging industries of post-war Japan, and the success of his systematic approach to quality improvement eventually registered in the United States. Out of the Crisis (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 617-253-6128, 1986, $29.50) is a practical professional-management tool.

Should you care to register for formal instruction, consult Peterson's Guide to M.B.A. Programs (Peterson's Guides, 800-338-3282, 1996, $21.95). Some 900 institutions offer courses of study in business administration; Peterson's gives you the specifics you need to narrow the field to a more manageable selection. And check your local library for Bricker's International Directory, 1997: University-Based Executive Development Programs (Peterson's Guides, 800-338-3282, 1997, $325), arranged by management discipline. Experience always counts, though, so you may want to consult your library's copy of the student assessments that Albert & Co. publishes in its Executive Development Programs Guide (Albert & Co., 561-697-3430, 1997, $450).

PAUL REYNOLDS, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Babson College, Forest St., Wellesley, MA 02157-0310; 617-239-5608; reynoldspd@babson.edu 44

BILL SAHLMAN, Harvard Business School, Soldiers Field Rd., Boston, MA 02163; 617-495-6000 44

HOWARD STEVENSON, Harvard Business School, Soldiers Field Rd., Boston, MA 02163; 617-495-6000 44

BILL WETZEL, Center for Venture Research, Whittemore School of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824; 603-862-3341 44

 PREV  1 | 2 | 3 

Read more:

Sign-up for our Leadership and Managing Newsletter

Email Address: