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What makes someone an entrepreneur?

Am I a businessman?

Are you a businessman?

Do I know any entrepreneurs?

Is it hereditary?

Can I catch him?

Is he a killer?

Wait what?

The word "entrepreneur" seems to be thrown around everywhere to everyone who does anything.

It is used to describe celebrities and business moguls such as Beyoncé, Elon Musk, and Marie Kondo,

And Jessica Alba.

But your brother who keeps coming up with his idea for coffee-flavored toothpaste might

Make a list too.

Mmm!

Entrepreneurs appear in all types of industries and can have widely different backgrounds.

Some build personal brands, while others work tirelessly on a physical product they believe in.

In fact, anyone can become an entrepreneur, if they are given an idea and the right tools to develop it

To a professional job.

Together, we will develop our business acumen and learn the importance of grit and persistence,

And a little luck.

I'm Anna Akana, and this is a crash course in business: entrepreneurship.

[Open music playback]
Who is the businessman?

Some people define an entrepreneur with buzzwords like “pioneer,” “innovator,” or “innovative.”

“Problem solving”, “emotion”, etc.

These may all be traits that entrepreneurs can strive for.

But an entrepreneur, at its core, is someone who sees a need and takes care of the finances

Risk starting a business to fill that need.

This may seem a bit vague, but that's the point.

There is no cookie cutter entrepreneur.

Unless, say, you're starting a business selling cookie cutters.

In this case, yes, there is a fickle businessman.

Your idea may take the form of a physical product with a physical store – called a

Brick and mortar works.

In Montana, Charlie and Barbie Peyton from Big Dipper Ice Cream

Taking their passion for locally made ice cream from one shop in downtown Missoula took hold

Good morning America.
Duaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaman.

Or instead of a tangible product, your project might be a national empowerment network.

GirlBoss New Zealand was founded by 20-year-old Alexia Hilbertido after being single

Woman in upper level physics class.

Its goal is to encourage high school-age women to pursue STEM careers and leadership.

Or maybe you have your sights set on an international online media empire, like Arianna Huffington,

Founder and namesake of HuffPost.
She founded her site (with partners) as a friendly alternative to news aggregators.

It eventually sold it to AOL in 2015 for US$315 million.

Get it, Ari.

Obviously, entrepreneurs come in all flavors.

I mean, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, over 100 million businesses have been launched

every year.

This means 11,000 per hour or 3 new businesses per second.

...Here they are!

So instead of just defining who an entrepreneur is, since that's a broad spectrum - we can do that instead

Narrowing our definition by understanding who is not one.

Let's go to the thought bubble.

Suppose Congress works for Me-Wow, a health and fitness company for cats.

He notices the need -- a shocking lack of cat transportation -- and pitches the idea

For the Cat course, which he presents to his boss.

Me-Wow is sending the Cat-Cycle into production immediately because it's a genius idea, obviously

And it flies off the shelves.

Although Congress uses an entrepreneurial mindset, by our definition it is not

Entrepreneur so far.

Me-Wow has already taken on the financial risks of developing, producing and selling the Cat-Cycle.

Meanwhile, Beetle sees the same need to transport cats and paints a Cat-Board

In his personal notebook after work.

He gained valuable experience working for Me-Wow and developing the Cat-Board in

Evenings and weekends before he goes out on his own.

Using his personal savings, Beetle orders a prototype and shops it locally

Stores.

A few are interested and enter into contracts with them.

As his sales begin to grow, Beetle comes up with new designs, but he's not paying attention

to what his customers like or don't like about Cat-Board.

Because it failed to make valuable improvements to the Cat-Board for its customers and sales

plummet.

It's a tough decision, but Beetle cuts his losses and sells his Cat-Board designs to...

Me-Wow, which revamps its idea as Dog-Board.

Beetle is an entrepreneur because he saw a need and

Take the financial risk to fill it!

It didn't go well because he didn't incorporate customer feedback.

But now he knows where he went wrong and he won't make the same mistake in his next project

Strive.

Thanks thought bubble!

For a while, the classic story of an entrepreneur was the one who innovates