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There is a popular conception that successful entrepreneurs are risk takers. However, the opposing view is that entrepreneurs actually succeed by minimizing risk.
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Many people believe that a good idea can lie at the heart of a new business. However, many successful entrepreneurs believe that there's no shortage of creative ideas, and that a good idea is of little value in comparison to the execution required to commercialize that idea. Furthermore, they view the overemphasis on good ideas as a factor in the failure of making good ideas a reality.
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The success rates for entrepreneurs are notoriously low. Furthermore, the reasons for their failure often seem quite predictable. This would seem to indicate that the typical entrepreneur, if they rationally assessed their business endeavor, would be better off being an employee.
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As the United States entered a recession in 2008, many companies faced bankruptcy. The US Government has bailed out several financial firms, justifying the bailouts on the grounds that such firms are "too big to fail" and would pull down the rest of the economy if they were allowed to go bust. The same argument is now being used to justify bailing out the American auto industry, augmented with the argument of job preservation.
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In the wake of music piracy, authors fear that ebooks will be next.
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Peak oil refers to the time when global oil extraction reaches its maximum. From that point on, oil will become increasingly scarce, and the world will have to adapt to new energy sources.
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Garrett Camp
First of all, that working with friends and people you trust is the best situation you can be in with a new business. And second, that it all starts with a great idea and teamwork. ... A great product is absolutely the most important thing–there’s just no getting around that. That may seem obvious, but I think there are a lot of startups out there that focus so much on business plans and IPOs and exit strategies that the idea itself takes second place. ...
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Forbes Magazine
...entrepreneurs, politicians, athletes and show-business types ...all support the same conclusion: The best results come to those willing to take a chance--an important reminder for entrepreneurs, financiers and political leaders as the global economy braces for even rougher weather. ... [Illustratingly, one of the most impressive entrepreneurs we talked to said his greatest risk was] the time he mustered the courage to board an unknown, unsaddled horse.
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Malcolm Gladwell
The truly successful businessman, in Villette and Vuillermot’s telling, is anything but a risk-taker. He is a predator, and predators seek to incur the least risk possible while hunting. Would we so revere risk-taking if we realized that the people who are supposedly taking bold risks in the cause of entrepreneurship are actually doing no such thing?
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Nicholas Carroll
One of the most common misperceptions about successful startups is that successful entrepreneurs are risk-takers. Actually, they take risks from necessity, because it comes with the territory. By personal inclination, successful entrepreneurs are risk-minimizers.
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Dennis Fong
Ideas are a dime a dozen. I don't think I've honestly thought of a unique idea in a very very long time if ever. Most ideas people have talked about thousands of times over. .... Maybe it's somewhat unique in that space but if you look in another space there's something almost exactly like it. It always makes me laugh... ...when I hear someone saying "I thought of ebay 15 years ago". ... The one thing that defines an entrepreneur is that they're the one who goes and do it...
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Steve Ballmer
There's really four stages to business. 1: I invent something. 2: I get something to critical mass. 3: I milk it like heck when it's at critical mass. 4: I create a culture in which I can do '1' again. ... Great companies end up having to be all four. Most companies don't get out of '1'. ... Entrepreneurship is about all four parts of the cycle. Google's in the '3' phase. That was the 90s for is [Microsoft].
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Jeff Atwood
I wouldn't call ideas worthless, per se, but it's clear that ideas alone are a hollow sort of currency. Success is rarely determined by the quality of your ideas. But it is frequently determined by the quality of your execution. So instead of worrying about whether the Next Big Idea you're all working on is sufficiently brilliant, worry about how well you're executing.
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Malcolm Gladwell
...many entrepreneurs take plenty of risks — but those are generally the failed entrepreneurs, not the success stories. The failures violate all kinds of established principles of new-business formation. ... Writing a business plan is a must... Taking over an existing business is always the best bet... sell[ing] to other businesses [rather than consumers is better]... The list goes on... ...a good many of these risks reflect a lack of preparation or foresight.
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Donald Trump
Of course, becoming an entrepreneur is challenging. There are risks. But would you rather control your own destiny, or have someone else control it for you? The answer to that question is obvious. When you are ready to take the next step, Trump University is here to help. [Editors note: quote is by Michael Sexton, who is head of Trump University]
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