Are Entrpreneurs the result of a misguided youth?

[T14]

It's interesting to hear some of the background stories of some of the most iconic business men and women in the world.

What intrigues me is how a percentage of the ones I've researched always seem to hint that they were a bit of a misguided youth. Either their parents were divorced when they were very young, they didn't have a father figure in their life, they were arrested multiple times maybe, or they jumped from dead end job to dead end job before they finally caught traction in the business that put them on the map...


I'm interested to hear what everyone here thinks. Did you ever feel like you were a bit misguided? That you still are? Do you think this is a common characteristic among entrepreneurs?

Why don't we just take the base salary and cozy cubicle?

 

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[The-J]

My childhood was happy. Shit, my dad was the one who gave me Rich Dad, Poor Dad and The Intelligent Investor to read when I was in high school.

What's funny is that he wanted me to get a job and save up and invest slowly over a period of 40 years. I wanted to skip the 40 years and get to compounding fast. That's where we disagreed.

 

[Gale4rc]

Definitely had a misguided youth and fell in love with books (the first was Richard Bransons losing my virginity) , thank god they were pointed to entrepreneurship and learned from there. Now all my beliefs are ones that i've read from books and everyone I know has no clue why I think like I do but, i'm confident i'm on the right path and anxious to prove them all wrong and then help them get on the same path.

 

[T14]

The-J, nice to hear from you. It's interesting how some people "go for it" and see the potential benefits of starting a business whereas others take the "safe route" through higher education and a full time job.

I've always felt the urge to build something of my own. This lead me to jumping from a landscaping job in college, to becoming a certified personal trainer, to moving down to ATL where I started a bootcamp, moving back up north to then make the transition into the world of real estate.

All along I've felt like I have a realistic view of where I am and where I'm going but I was thinking earlier how others might view this as being misguided.

Just curious if anyone has ever experienced this perspective

 

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[Lagron]

I have to kind of agree on the misguided youth portion...

Taking myself for example, my parents were missing mortgage payments, I didn't have a nice car, and the clothes I wanted were expensive, I wasn't able to pay for college...and then WAM, I NEED TO CHANGE THIS...

It is when a person is at their lowest point that they get their a$$ up to change where they are, since they know they can't lose anything but gain everything.

So yea, I agree that in my case, and most likely in other cases, its moments where it hits someone like a ton of bricks "DUMBASS, DO SOMETHING ELSE TO GET SOMETHING ELSE..."

And we just change, or strive for it.

(I seem to be repeating myself haha.)

 

[mayana]

I disagree with the idea that there are specific experiences and backgrounds that all entrepreneurs (successful or not) will share. I think that this is actually a good thing, and it's why everyone should feel inspired.

It basically means that there is no recipe, prescription, or limitation placed upon us. It's a good thing!

My parents were "normal", I think, as far as their ideas on money, work, college, etc. My dad still believes in the "work at the same company until you retire' philosophy, as an example.

And yet, I was charging my little sisters rent in my closet (I had the biggest one) as young as 9 years old. I was selling greeting cards and wrapping paper door-to-door at the age of 11, and continued to scheme and plan about business ideas all the way through my childhood. I literally had NO business owners in my entire family, now that I think of it...lol.

I have friends who have successful business owners as parents, yet they scorn the idea of owning a business.

So what explains the trend towards entrepreneurship? I think it's just our own personalities - we got lucky!!

 

[Lagron]

So what explains the trend towards entrepreneurship? I think it's just our own personalities - we got lucky!!

Thank god, we got lucky.
I have soo many business opportunities that I have been presented with and I love how god gave me the ability to come up with utterly unique business ideas whenever I get "bored" with a current project. I am thankful for my creativity.

I guess there is just something, anything, that triggered within us that lead to us, entrepreneurs to want to "own businesses," make a living greater than our neighbors.

 

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[RogueInnovation]

Fascinating, I think it is entirely likely that for those youth who seek independance NOW entrepenuerialship would become more relevant in their psyche.
I find it fascinating because I've wondered why it took me so long to come around to entrepenuerialship. But now that you mention this, it seems to me that "necessity is the mother of invention" and may just be behind "coming around to the idea".

Maybe some people come to it because of midlife crisis, or facing debts, or other difficult situations.
While others may only come to it because they are introduced to it and "grow into it".
But in each case, it would be necessity that really clinches the transformation.


I think it is a way of overcoming certain doubts about yourself and that to really succeed requires that you commit to it long enough that it changes your view on things. It would make sense that those most aware of their doubts, would pursue getting rid of them.

 

[liquidglass]

While I believe a portion of successful entrepreneurs may have a misguided or jaded past I believe you may be viewing select similarities as a cause of being successful. Just because a certain percentage have similar and non success related events in their life does not make a case for a correlation between the two.

If misguided youth was a launchpad for entpreneurs we should see more of them than we do. The same holds true for a good upbringing.

Example: Bill gates dropped out of college, so did some other successful entrepreneurs. Many view this as a sign to drop out of college and start their success journey blindly. But what you don't hear are the stories of thousands of other "bills" that dropped out the same year and are now working at a McDs.


Who says any of this has to do with luck? We are where we are because we choose to be there. Just like everyone has has chosen where to be in life, we just decided to view it differently

 

[RogueInnovation]

Just because a certain percentage have similar and non success related events in their life does not make a case for a correlation between the two.

If misguided youth was a launchpad for entpreneurs we should see more of them than we do.

Who says any of this has to do with luck? We are where we are because we choose to be there. Just like everyone has has chosen where to be in life, we just decided to view it differently

A very balanced view liquidglass,
My thoughts:

"Correlation does not necessitate causation" science 101, I think that not jumping to cause and effect is well tempered.
I agree that it is unlikely that misguided youth is the only contributing factor to success.
A member here has a signature at the bottom of his posts Laboring Under Correct Knowledge.

Perhaps after trouble entrepeneurship might become more relevant, but it may not lead to the right way of facing it.
They may not make the l.u.c.k. they need.

To account for the large amount of people that fail, you could assume that they are either not aware of what entrepenuership is, or lack the spirit to go after it.

Upbringing may or may not affect that, it is hard to say.

 

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[Kak]

Some probably were and some probably were not.

There are 2 kinds of entrepreneurs IMO. The ones that have large scalable businesses in the works and will do anything and everything it takes to make it happen.

There are also people who play it safe take everything super slow and cautious and end up building a nice living if they have the balls to take it far enough.

One is a born entrepreneur and one is someone who understands and thinks it makes sense but has reservations.

What fosters each of these mentalities? I dont know... But both are different animals.

 

[Mexanik]

Well, my father have been talking about unfair system since I was like 10-12. We were trying to help him (back then there was a company by the name Spedia, not sure if they are still there). I went through high school, university, but all that time I had one thing in my mind - at some point I will build my own business...

Sent from my GT-I9100

 

[Darius]

Don't get me started

 

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[Roland]

Don't you think entrepreneurship is the cause of the success we want in the future rather than the consequence of what happened in the past?
Personally I do.

 

[dknise]

Why don't we just take the base salary and cozy cubicle?

Because I'm not a mindless tool?

 

[Oven]

I think a lot of people are kind of forced into entrepreneurship. For example at my school most of the people who attend it are upper middle class and most are applying to the better universities in the area and see no reason to risk becoming an entrepreneur and I don't blame them we all like to be comfortable. Although there are kids who come from poorer families and don't do nearly as well in school, they don't really have a good chance of getting a good job or accepted into a college. They don't have the option to live comfortably either they work a shitty job and get paid minimum wage or try and do something about it, they have a reason to become entrepreneurs and I think that's really important. On the other hand some people just love entrepreneurship and the idea behind it and that's what motivates them. I think everyone has there own reasons.

 

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[Daniel A]

There was an article on Forbes that talked about this titled, "Elon Musk And How Divorce Prepares Kids To Be Entrepreneurs".

Here's the link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/drewhan...ow-divorce-prepares-kids-to-be-entrepreneurs/

I thought about this before but not too much. Not enough to really go into it on my own yet, but of course there are plenty of examples of great people/achievers in general that came from 'bad' backgrounds and childhoods.

Check out the article though, the person who wrote it definitely put some thought into it.

 

[Tommy92l]

Absolutely. When I was younger and my parents were together - my family was simply loaded. Then, the divorce happened when I was 6, which really messed me up. Years later, my brother became a HUGE heroine addict, so that + family problems = my life was a little nutty when I was 10 - 15. Cops in my house at 3 in the morning, always waking up to a doorbell with a cop there with a warrant.

Then, my brother cleaned himself up. He has now bounced back and been better than ever, and regularly appearing on a huge sports radio show, while being a drug councilor and starting his own business. It's amazing.

The thing is, I was so spoiled when I was younger, I got everything I wanted in my childhood. After the divorce, money was tough on my moms side, and I realized how much I wanted that old life back. That is was prompted me into doing what I love. That is what motivates me.

If it wasn't for the divorce, I'd have just been a rich entitled brat like everyone else in my area. Best thing that ever happened.

 

[charto911]

wow you could write a whole book about this topic or at least a chapter. In fact Malcolm Gladwells Freakonomics covers this with Roland Flyer vs. the Unibomber Ted K.

There are no hard and fast rules but IMO I would disagree. Those who have the means growing up privileged have access to technology and computers that I did not have. Bill Gates was able to work on computers during their infancy and got a huge head start that an inner city child would not.

 

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[T14]

Don't get me started

Darius, please do!

 

[OzGrinder]

There are 2 kinds of entrepreneurs IMO. The ones that have large scalable businesses in the works and will do anything and everything it takes to make it happen.

There are also people who play it safe take everything super slow and cautious and end up building a nice living if they have the balls to take it far enough.

Sounds about right. I probably belong in category 2 while the majority on this forum appear to lie in category 1. I don't think either is right or wrong, whatever suits.

What fosters each of these mentalities? I dont know

Risk aversion. Do I prefer an almost 100% chance of being worth somewhere in the range of $2m-$10m in my mid to late thirties or a 20% chance of being worth $10m+ but also a very real risk of being bankrupt.

That's how I look at it anyway, I choose the former. Maybe I'm under/over estimating the 20% 10m+ figure, but I do know there's a clear very low risk path to $2m+ that failing the unforeseen (eg. major financial/societal melt down, health issues, legal issues etc.) is almost guaranteed, whereas more risk means more ability to scale.

 

[JAJT]

Adversity can be a catalyst to new ways of thinking and doing.

If you live a happy life by going with the flow, there is very little reason to change.

A happy childhood that leads into a happy school life that leads into an enjoyable job that provides an acceptable standard of living isn't exactly a recipe for change, is it?

 

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