An entrepreneur is, in its most general sense, a person who creates or starts a new project, opportunity, or venture.
Most commonly, the term entrepreneur applies to someone who establishes a new entity to offer a new or existing product or service into a new or existing market, whether for a profit or not-for-profit venture, a business entrepreneur. Business entrepreneurs often have strong beliefs about a market opportunity and are willing to accept a high level of personal, professional or financial risk to pursue that opportunity.
Research has demonstrated that there is such thing as an "entrepreneurial type," with certain characteristics (such as having a father or a mother who was an entrepreneur) linked to the probability of someone being an entrepreneur themselves. There is little good evidence, however, that entrepreneurial type is linked to ultimate success of an entrepeneurial venture.
Business entrepreneurs are often highly regarded in American culture as being a critical component of its capitalistic society. Famous entrepreneurs include: Henry Ford (automobiles), J. Pierpont Morgan (banking), Thomas Edison (electricity/light bulbs), Bill Gates (computer operating systems and applications) and others.
Some distinguish business entrepreneurs as either "political entrepreneurs" or "market entrepreneurs."
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Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46
