Entrepreneurial vision and visionary entrepreneurship
To evolve means to develop gradually…
Entrepreneurship is a function of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is a spirit, leadership is its soul, while society is its body. Without the spirit, the body is dead. Entrepreneurs evolve to advance the world by transforming the economy and modernizing the society. The entrepreneurial spirit evolves with vision and possibilities. The entrepreneurial spirit is the spirit of creativity. Creativity evolves with possibilities.
Entrepreneurs animate possibilities in different strata of the economy and society. Entrepreneurs are leaders, they set the pace! Entrepreneurs are thinkers, they reset the space!
The world evolves because entrepreneurs keep thinking and undertaking responsibilities. What vision is to leadership is what innovation is to entrepreneurship. Basically, to evolve means to grow in vision and innovation. Vision is a proxy for responsibility as innovation is a proxy for possibilities.
EVOLVING WITH TIME
Entrepreneurial vision – The vision of possibilities
Entrepreneurship is the vision of possibilities. Possibilities are responsibilities. Entrepreneurship is about undertaking responsibilities with the vision of possibilities in mind. Possibilities drive responsibilities. An entrepreneurial vision is the vision of innovation. Innovation is the application of creative solutions to problems and to opportunities to enhance and to enrich people’s lives. The vision of possibilities evolves with time. Remember the formula – E = f (e), that is, entrepreneurship is a function of the entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is a visionary innovator who imagines possibilities, exploits opportunities, creates solutions and takes responsibilities. An entrepreneurial vision is the vision of possibilities and innovation. The possible innovations today were nearly impossible many years back. It is the thinking of the entrepreneur that keeps evolving that makes impossible becomes possible. An entrepreneurial vision to me is a vision of innovation or simply put, innovative thinking. Innovative thinking is a function of the entrepreneurial mindset, that is, possibility thinking. Industries and economies are transformed with the evolution of the entrepreneurial mindset. What we call an entrepreneurial mindset is otherwise known as a paradigm shift or mind shift from the norm. Entrepreneurs are innovators who shatter the status quo and disrupt the norm. According to Joseph Schumpeter, the dynamic equilibrium which the entrepreneur introduces is the norm of a healthy economy. The evolution of the human intelligence is gradually becoming a translation into the evolution of Artificial Intelligence. AI could not have been a necessity at the primitive stages of the human evolution. Societies are transformed by the evolution of the entrepreneurial mindset through series of possibilities or innovation in science, technology, education, business, etc. Possibilities don’t evolve, innovative thinking does.
Microsoft Corporation, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, has evolved from a small software development company into one of the largest and most influential technology giants in the world. From its humble beginnings in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the company’s focus was always on creating software that could revolutionize personal computing. The evolution of Microsoft reveals the key milestones, innovations, and leadership changes that have shaped Microsoft’s rise to prominence in the tech industry.
Microsoft’s journey began with the vision of Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who saw the potential for personal computing to become a mainstream reality. Their first product, Altair BASIC, was developed for the Altair 8800, one of the first personal computers. After successfully demonstrating the software to MITS, the manufacturer of the Altair 8800, the company secured a distribution agreement, marking the start of its long-lasting impact on the technology world. The name “Micro-Soft,” a combination of “microcomputer” and “software,” reflected their commitment to revolutionizing computing through software development.
EVOLVING WITH A TEAM
Visionary entrepreneurship – Division of responsibilities
Leadership is division of responsibilities. Entrepreneurship is not just about having a plan, it is about behaving the plan. Also, entrepreneurship is not just about ‘behaving’ the plan, it is about planning—organizing, strategizing and more importantly sustaining innovations and impacts. An entrepreneurial endeavour is sustained by a structure which is a function of vision. Economies evolve with visionary entrepreneurship and are sustained by same.
Visionary entrepreneurship is not just possibility thinking, it is sustainability thinking, and that has to do with how division of labour evolves with the vision of labour considering man and machine as the drivers of possibilities and productivity. Division of responsibilities evolves with a team.
Everything rises and falls on leadership including entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur is a natural leader. Leadership is division of responsibilities. Without a team, an entrepreneur cannot evolve. The journey of an entrepreneur does not begin with many, neither does it begin with money; it begins with a meaning. An entrepreneur evolves when the entrepreneurial responsibilities start to widen in scale and scope. Division of responsibilities is a function of the vision of possibilities.
Teamwork makes the dream work. Many of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs began their journey not in glamorous offices or co-working spaces, but in a humble garage. Entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Larry Page all share a common story—one that begins with limited resources but limitless vision.
Some Billion Dollar Companies That Started In Garages – Evolving with time and a team:
- Microsoft – Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft way back in 1975; within a small garage as their workspace, and very little resources to help them. The first operating system they built, they were able to license for a sum of around $80,000.
- Google – Larry Page and Sergey Brin Created Google in 1998, in a garage in California that was let out to them by Susan Wojcicki. It took them five months to create Google, after which they said had begun taking up too much of their time and they actually tried selling the company to Excite for a measly $1 million. Google is now worth an estimated $350 billion, which is absolutely incredible. As of 2017, Larry Page and Sergey Brin are two of the richest people in the world, with net worths upwards of $30 billion.
- Amazon – Amazon.com was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, and was originally just a small online bookstore. At the time he founded Amazon, he was operating out of his home garage in Bellevue, Washington. It wasn’t actually until a year later that he was able to sell his first book. But soon after the business began to grow and it has now become the world’s largest online retailer. Bezos went from selling books, to selling whatever he wants. In 2018, Jeff Bezos’ net worth is $135.5 billion, making him the richest person in the world.
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