The Dangers Of Feeling You Are Too Good To Be An Entrepreneur
When I first began to teach entrepreneurship at Princeton, I made it a point to help students and any aspiring entrepreneurs who came to me for advice find at least three ideas for creating profitable businesses.
It’s not hard—opportunities are everywhere. Almost every industry is undergoing change and has weak players and dissatisfied customers. Possibilities can be found right around the corner: every neighborhood needs its hangouts; every town could use some service it currently lacks. Meanwhile, computers put the global market at everyone’s fingertips.
Nevertheless, my consultations with would-entrepreneurs often ended in frustration. Their common refrain was “the ideas aren’t cool enough—they’re too mundane.” Translation: too low status.
