Innovation and entrepreneurship are closely linked by human behaviors and professional skills needed to launch and drive a business. Through a variety of specialists and entrepreneurs view, it is striking to see how entrepreneurship is needed not only to build new business models and recreate an entire economic system focused on individuals, whether inside our outside start-ups and organizations, but also to challenge social status-quo that tends to leave us in inaction when drastic change is needed. From having the inherent faith in our ideas up to transforming the world, we as entrepreneurs share experiences and knowledge to create a human network of pragmatic innovators.

Building a dream is nothing like dreaming

Entrepreneurship has a start. As entrepreneurs, we know exactly what energy this start takes, and how it only is a beginning. We as entrepreneurs have been afraid to fail. But then, we still gave it a go. As Jeff Haden explains for INC, “A whole other group of people will respect you for taking a shot. They’ll recognize a kindred spirit. They’ll empathize. They’ll encourage. They’ll pick you up. They’ll know what it’s like to try and fail and try again.”

It could be an idea not to go and fight on our own. We as entrepreneurs know the value of a “wingman”, sailing across storms being shouldered by a friend, or even a life partner. As Minda Zetlin explains for INC, “Starting a company is difficult with anyone. However starting a company with someone who is in it with you and whom you trust is a bit better.”

As Minda Zetlin draws a parallel between marriage, partnering in life and building a business, Brandon Weber from FastCompany explains how entrepreneurship demands a “yes i can” attitude towards challenges. As he writes, “Starting your own company and running an Ironman race are both intimidating situations, as the outcomes are completely unknown. Despite the fear of failure that constantly was top of mind, I had to ignore my fears and take the plunge; I had to say yes.”

Entrepreneurs as a team

Beyond the project start, the team and skills needed to go ahead, Steven DuPuis from FastCoDesign highlights the need for a company vision. In his view, “Without dreams, companies lose meaning, purpose, and direction. Every startup begins with a vision of a business that matters—its equivalent of a concept car.”

We as entrepreneurs also know we are not alone. Diving into the unknown abysses of launching a business, despite the thrill of discoveries and early successes, is much easier when guided by peers, sharing experiences and teaching to others as well. Ilan Mochari from INC has listed short movies worth watching to understand the impact of entrepreneurship in business owners lives.

In order to thrive in a labor world highly impacted by systemic changes, entrepreneurs need to cultivate the right adaptive mindsets. They need to be given the appropriate thinking to do so. As Heather McGowan explains in her interview for Natalie Nixon from INC, “I became interested in accelerated change and the future of work years ago as I noticed the rising collaborative economy coupled with graduate unemployment and underemployment and an overall shift away from the old-economy paradigm of preparing graduates to be experts in single-career trajectories to one of engagements that require rapid cycles of learning and the leveraging of that learning.”

On top of arming ourselves with the right mindset, we as entrepreneurs also count on investment partners and need their support and belief to pursue business dreams. John Rampton from Entrepreneur has listed 32 VCs FinTech entrepreneurs need to know. As the writer concludes, “As the Fintech industry continues to grow, these are the VCs you want to keep an eye one. Their investments could shift the market drastically.”

Driving a business necessitates the right skill set within a supporting team as well. Although there is a common thinking that successful entrepreneurs tend to be young people, researches and experiences show that knowledge and maturity are critical assets for entrepreneurs. As Vivek Wadwa explains for Venture Beat, ” The vast majority of these startups fail, however, because there is no substitute for experience and knowledge. What makes entrepreneurs successful, as my team’s research revealed, is work and industry experience and management ability. These come with age. ”

Finally, Donny Gamble Jr explains in Entrepreneur what he thinks are the key requirements to launch a business. In his view, “For many of us, it’s a combination of being able to be more creative, make a difference, work for ourselves, have flexible hours and increase our earning potential.”

https://plus.google.com/+WeAreInnovationblog/posts/9TshSjidg8Y

That being said, there are endless reasons why putting so much efforts in starting a business comes with high rewards. Freedom is one of them. As Jonathan Long explains in Entrepreneur, “Entrepreneurs have total freedom to roam, create, delegate and work. There are no cubicles or desks to be tied to all day.”

https://plus.google.com/+WeAreInnovationblog/posts/DUBFG6JhMvK

Transforming the world

Starting a business generates new values, for you, and those you work with and for. As Kerry Butters explains on MarkItWrite, “It’s much more rewarding doing something that will give not only to you, but to those around you – think about how you can achieve this.”

Entrepreneurship is indeed seen as a way to transform our societies and the world we live in. In his interview for FrenchWeb, Philippe Silberzahn explains how “innovation necessitates a new inter-disciplinary approach to understand the world in its complexity (from a cultural, technical, social, and economic standpoint) so we can take action and transform it”.  Femmes Numériques share a precious encouragement for women entrepreneurs from Maïna Marquette, Skippair CEO: “Dare to go ahead and leave your comfort zone. Once you have engaged on that choice, things around you will become simpler”.

In below video from FrenchWeb, Carlos Diaz explains the role of an entrepreneur in the American culture, as seen from France. In his view, the American entrepreneur has five key roles: creating and sharing a vision, recruit best talents, pushing teams towards goals, communicating and being the face of the company, and fundraising.

Entrepreneurship and the IT environment enabling fast scaling push organizations to identify and help talents very early. Steve O’Hear mentions London based Entrepreneur First in his article for TechCrunch. As he writes, the talent are first identified before they launch their ideas to market. “They are then helped to work through those ideas and decide what to focus on and who else on the programme they work with. Some of those ideas and teams stick and are fast-tracked to become a startup with product, traction and investment, while others chop and change and take longer to form.”

We as entrepreneurs are for sure building an important part of innovation future. In the US, higher education is aligning to arm the new generation of builders to they bring the needed flexibility and open-mindedness to create a better future. As Li Zhou writes for Smithsonian Mag, “There is a growing consensus that higher education, moving forward, should be a flexible experience that can be customized in both subject matter and structure to fit individual interests and learning styles. There is no longer one template that can be interchangeably applied to every student’s path.”

Entrepreneurs are inspired by change, and engaging into a changing lifestyle requires preparation as well as long term dedication. As role-models for creating breakthrough ideas and business models, entrepreneurs and business owners define a new vision and purpose for new generations of workers to take ownership and transform the world. This new definition of innovation driven by individuals is a key asset for change, and should be a corner stone for any inspired innovator willing to start a new business.