Entrepreneurism - Nature Or Nurture? November 3

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The 17th century philosopher John Locke spoke of the “tabula rasa” - the blank slate onto which experiences are etched, subsequently affecting our ideas, sensations and characteristics. There were, he said, no innate ideas stamped upon the mind from birth. A budding entrepreneur might construe this as a sign that Locke was suggesting, by extension, that a man must become successful in business through training, application and experience rather than through an innate drive - but can we say that this is true?

Entrepreneur Nurture or NatureA recent survey by the US’s Northeastern University, in Massachussetts, tends to fly in the face of this. Studying the responses of over 200 entrepreneurs from across the Atlantic, it gleaned that a majority (62 per cent) believed they were born with the desire and ambition to found their own businesses - suggesting that nature may be more valuable than nurture when it comes to realising one’s goals.

That’s quite a sweeping statement to make - and is not necessarily borne out by studies of several big-name individuals. Here it is instructive to consider the five entrepreneurs - and entrepreneurial double-acts - profiled in the articles below, asking whether they can be said to have benefited more from an inbuilt fire or a structured period of learning.

To draw a black-and-white distinction is not easy - and in fact is almost certainly impossible, unless we can somehow enter the minds of these famous businessmen. It is interesting, though, to look at examples such as that of Sir Richard Branson, who struggled considerably at school and did not perform well in tests and exams. He arguably benefited the most from a natural personable streak, coupled with a curiosity and an ability to exploit openings which came before him. This, surely, cannot be taught through any structured learning - but that does not mean it is par for the course.

More likely, the entrepreneur will have flourished through a blend of nature and nurture. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, of Apple, met when they were students - as did Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The strengths of their personalities are not in doubt - and all effectively went out on a limb to create groundbreaking new products (88 per cent of today’s entrepreneurs describe themselves as risk-takers) but their standing as graduates of places like Harvard and Stanford certainly provided them with the facilities and wherewithal to get off to a pretty good start.

Other findings from the survey suggested that, despite believing that entrepreneurial desire is innate, most of those questioned did not have a family member who was a self-made businessperson. Business talents may not be hereditary and are, according to this, more down to chance. Certainly luck plays a role for many, whether their talents are inbuilt or not - Michael O’Leary’s friendship with the Ryan family (cultivated, importantly, through his education) set him on the way to a long career of aviation innovation and is perhaps an ideal example of how education and good fortune mix in many entrepreneurs’ formative years.

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