A Mogul To Be

Are you the perfect entrepreneur?

December 4th, 2006 by Robert

I just read this post by Ben over at the Startup Spark blog. I always thought of myself as having an entrepreneur mindset and after going through the 100 parts that make up an entrepreneur, I would say that I fit most of them.

Breaking each one down, here is how I fit:

• 20 parts passion and dreamer: Well I am definitely a dreamer and I am passionate about software development.
• 20 parts ego: Hmm… I have yet to meet a good software developer that didn’t have an ego…
• 12 parts motivation: This is my problem area. I have good initial motivation but tend to find it hard to follow through.
• 11 parts goal setting: I am not one to write big goal lists, but I do keep them in my head and try to follow them
• 8 parts hard work: Depends on your definition of hard work
• 8 parts luck: We can all use some luck. I think my luck is derived from my desire to learn and as such I am a self taught developer
• 7 parts street smarts: I would say I have pretty good street smarts
• 5 parts leadership: I tend to fall into a leadership role where ever I go. Some of it is my desire to “do it right” and I tend to fight a lot of uphill battles in the corporate world and I also get things done. As such my managers have tended to come to me for a variety of reasons and put in lead roles. While I have some management experience from my various positions and from when I was in the service, it isn’t my strong point.
• 5 parts communication and human relations: Most developers tend to stay away from their customers and don’t care to interact with them. I’m just the opposite, and I prefer to work directly with customers instead of letting some middleman do it for me. As a result my customers think highly of me and my work. I’m not afraid to say no when it needs to be said, but I also deliver and sometimes over deliver on their expectations. Because of that they don’t mind being told no, or that they have to wait for feature XYZ or whatever. I think I get a lot of respect that way.
• 4 parts noncomformity: Ah yes, this is where I shine :-). I can’t help but push the envelope, challenge the status quo, and fight for a better way to do things. It has gotten me into trouble a little bit, but because I also deliver and my customer always respect and like me, it tends to save my ass.

So how well do you fit into these 100 parts? If you are a good fit them maybe you are ready to jump ship and start your own business as well.

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