The Irony of Serial Entrepreneurs

There’s an irony here that is notable. Even those that hit it big once and fail miserably from that point on still have more credibility than those that continually break even:

Interestingly, we don’t call someone who exhibits all of the personal characteristics ofan entrepreneur – opportunity sens- ing, out-of-the-box thinking, and determination – yet who failed miserably in his or her venture an entrepreneur; we call him or her a business failure. Even someone like Bob Young, of Red Hat Software fame, is called a “serial entrepreneur” only after his first success; i.e., all of his prior failures are dubbed the work of a serial entrepreneur only after the occurrence of his first success. The problem with ex post definitions is that they tend to be ill defined. It’s simply harder to get your arms around what’s unproven. An entrepreneur can certainly claim to be one, but without at least one notch on the belt, the self-proclaimed will have a tough time persuading investors to place bets. Those investors, in turn, must be willing to assume greater risk as they assess the credibility of would-be entrepreneurs and the potential impact of formative ventures.

STANFORD SOCIAL INNOVATION REVIEW / spring 2007
Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition, Sally Osberg and Roger Martin

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