The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur: Making of a Successful Entrepreneur

“In this paper, we explore company founders’ opinions and observations about their own trajectory and what influenced the success or failure of their businesses. By understanding what entrepreneurs think and believe, we hope to provide more insights into how to better support entrepreneurs and create societal, political, and economic conditions that can more efficiently foster entrepreneurship. This research is based on a survey of 549 company founders in a variety of industries, including aerospace and defense, computer and electronics, health care, and services" (p.4). (Abstractor: Author)

- "Experience, management, and luck" are "the keys to success" for entrepreneurship (p.4). - "Professional networks, education, funding, [and] personal networks" are "important" to successful entrepreneurship (p.5). - "Location, investor advice, alumni networks, and regional assistance" are "not so important" to successful entrepreneurship (p.5). - "Using personal savings is the norm" for entrepreneurship, while more experienced entrepreneur receive "venture capital", and "friends and family" are also a source of funding (p.6). (Abstractor: Author, Website Staff)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2009
• Author(s): Wadhwa, Vivek; Aggarwal, Raj; Holly, Krisztina “Z”; Salkever, Alex
• Organizational Author(s): Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
• Funding Source: Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Justin Venneri
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies