Week 2 Reading Reflection

What the biggest surprise for me in the reading was the distinction between an entrepreneur, a small business owner, and an innovator.  I never assumed that all small business owners were entrepreneurs because my mom owns her own daycare, but is in no way an entrepreneur.  I always thought entrepreneur and innovator were close to synonymous terms, but the reading described to me that you have to do more than innovate to be an entrepreneur, you have to put innovative ideas into a business practice.

What was confusing to me was that despite the fact that the author clarifies that being a small business owner does not mean one is an entrepreneur, the statistics he uses to describe the "Impact of Entrepreneurial Ventures in the United States" are from the U.S. Small Business Administration.  I am still having trouble grasping what actually makes someone an entrepreneur.

If I could ask the author two questions, one would be: why do gazelles produces twice as many product innovations per employee as do larger firms? I would like to know more about the work environment of gazelles or other reasons they are able to achieve such high growth rates.  Another question would be: what has the effect of entrepreneurial education had on the rate of entrepreneurship in the U.S.? I would like to know more about the myth "entrepreneurs are born, not made," because I have heard professors say that you can't teach entrepreneurship.

I have trouble agreeing with the author's view that entrepreneurship can be taught.  I think that you do need to have some of the typical traits, for example initiative, drive, willingness to take risk, and aggressiveness.  I think I could run a small business successfully, but my small business wouldn't be considered an entrepreneurial venture because I don't think any one can teach me to take more risk or how to create a new way of thinking to combine innovation with a business.