Top 10 Signs You're Made to be an Entrepreneur

Someone forwarded me a request for information put out by a USA Today reporter. He was writing an article about entrepreneurial personality traits. He wanted suggestions from "experts" in compiling his list. The idea was to help people decide whether they should seek self-employment or not.

I was intrigued by the idea so I submitted my list to him. He did not email or call back so I assume either he was not amused or my submission was not his cup of chai. In any case, I thought my list was cool so I now present it to you and wait (with lazily suspended breath) for your insightful reaction.

P.S. Additions, enhancements and/or subtitutions are heartily encouraged.

Fred's Top 10 Signs You're Made to be an Entrepreneur

10. You are unemployable. You can’t hold a job. You don’t want to hold a job. And you react to getting a job the same way a cat reacts when you try to give it a bath.

9. You are anti-authoritarian. You can’t fathom the thought of being anything less than Boss, President, Chairman, Don, and/or Emperor.

8. You have the uncanny ability to get other people to do all the work.

7. You are always looking for and/or seeing economic opportunity everywhere and in everything. While at a concert, you occupy yourself by estimating the evening’s take and its gross margins instead of listening to the music.

6. You spend more time and energy looking for easier, faster, cheaper, more effective ways of accomplishing something than if you just did the task outright.

5. You would enthusiastically trade a life-time pass to Disneyland for one ride in the Vomit Comet. In other words, you would give up a secure, even-keeled, bland existence for a life that whipsaws uncontrollably between exhilaration and terror.

4. You don’t see lack of money, lack of knowledge, and lack of experience as barriers to entry. You are also not deterred by the existence of formidable competition.

3. You favor multiplication over addition and you lull yourself to sleep by calculating price-earnings ratios.

2. You would happily invest your home’s equity and your life savings (and your mother’s life savings) in your start-up.

And the Number One sign you are made to be an entrepreneur . . .

1. When you project future earnings, your spread sheet shows that by Year 5, you can buy Argentina and sell it to Brazil.

www.lazyway.net

Comments

[Vee]

YES! Those signs applied to me. All this while I think I'm crazy,lazy & stupid. But, since you said that, it relieves me tiny bit. Thank you. U make me 50% smile...

[SpeedQueen]

Would you recomend someone who already knows they want to be an entrepeneuer to go to university?

[KingNothing]

Of course you should go to university. It's always good to have a contingency plan in case entrepreneurship fails.

[Fred Gratzon]

Schools are good for meeting interesting people and networking and, of course, going more deeply into the field(s) you love. But I would not recommend your going to college to get a bachelor's degree in business. If you want to major in business, do it in grad school.

But then again, Bill Gates is a college drop out.

[Eduardo Rocha]

Very interesting point about Brazil and Argentina :D

[Adam]

But wouldn't Argentina getting acquired by Brazil merely push up the value of other South American countries? At what point would it make sense to hold out and wait for a more lucrative offer from offshore VC?

[Bruno]

Very offensive comment about Argentina. I hope you change that kind of example.

The rest it's just fine.

[Fred Gratzon]

Dear Bruno,

I did not mean to be offensive toward Argentina. I'm just poking fun. I could have just as easily said bought Brazil and sold it to Argentina. Or bought Nebraska and sold it to Iowa. Believe me, I was just being silly.

[Donyell]

Great post! I can imagine why someone wouldn't see the humor/truth in it but for those of us who relate to the list, it makes a great laugh...especially number 10!

[marc denis]

Bruno, get a life.

[Joshua Volz]

While this list is funny, it is scary how true it rings to me. The one about spending more time finding away to do something cheaper/easier than just brute forcing it outright is especially true of me. I try to claim I am lazy, but my wife says "but you work so hard at it."

[Juan Manuel]

The Argentina/Brasil comment is not silly.
Not silly at all.

And Bruno, open your eyes,
what do you think
the world is?

No use
to sulk about it.

[Argent Brasel]

Bruno, you smell like cabbage... but I am offended that you put a space between "spread" and "sheet". This to me implies the use of unconventional means to arrive at projected future earnings.

[Searching]

Fred:

That was your best post. It struck a chord but it was not in Brazil or Argentina but in Wisconsin!

I read your book and it rocked. I am searching for more information as to how the Catholic church feels about transcendental meditation.

Keep Inspiring us, we are a minority!

[Praveen]

Hi Fred, I love your book, and your posts.
In my case, I still work for a corporation, but doing something I love (unix programming).

There are down points (long commute by train, mindless bureaucracy, and paperwork)but I love always figuring out ways to simplify and automate the work we do.
Even better, I love helping my co-workers
automate and simplify their work.

Over the last 10 years, I have flirted with starting my own businesses, but I definitely don't strongly exhibit your top 10 signs.

I'm too lazy to try to develop them - but the worsening corporate policies at my employer are pushing them on me by osmosis ;-)

[Mexican Chap]

Outstanding post, I couldn't stop laughing at the points that I thought I was just being bored, pedantic or obsesive about. Unfortunately I didn't get 10 out of 10. Missed lulling mysely to sleep over P/E ratios beat me. Love your stuff, keep up the good wowowo - fun & relaxation

[steve in sunny florida]

Fred,

It's sad to see the negative comments that have been directed toward you lately. I understand that you are a businessman, but I believe you really do want to help people become happy and more successful. Everytime I have e-mailed you personally, asking for advice, you have always responded generously.

God Bless, and keep up the good work.

[The Saint]

The Top 10 Signs You're Made to be an Entrepreneur rings true to me. I am there and there is NO turning back now. I MUST succeed for my Family and myself.

#5 refers to "a life that whipsaws uncontrollably between exhilaration and terror".

Lately, there has been an unbalance that stays more in the "terror" emotional area for me.

Any suggestions from my fellow Entrepreneurs on how to gain more of an "even mental keel" so ideas and performance become better and life seems less terrifying???

[Gideon]

Hi Fred,

You hit the nail on the head! I really enjoyed reading your post. I am currently on my way to go and live in Australia, and have been "looking" for work for quite a few months now. But to be honest, it has been an absolute nightmare, because for all the jobs advertised, it had one terrible thing in common - I WILL HAVE TO WORK FOR SOMEONE ELSE!!! Heaven forbid! The more I live, the less I want to work for someone else.

Cheers for your awesome book. It changed my life, and I have now finally found my calling in life. Your book should be made compulsary reading by everyone ;)

I really hope there is another book of yours in the pipeline, because I will definately buy it!

Cheers for all the good advice!

Regards

Gideon
New Zealand

[Aussie girl]

Fred you are wonderful to tell me I am so sane and I laughed with relief, any suggestions for working on number 8? Now that my health is turning around I think I am too lazy to paint. Number 9 fits, but when I think about it, well thats too much like hard work.

Bruno,stop grizzling, Aussie has already been sold up the creek, but dont worry 'cause by year 8 my flying scaucer is big enough to beam all of us up.

Get this fellow entrepreneurs, I got CFS from computer EMR in the workplace, too afraid to follow my instincts. ha ha oh Fred, where were you 20 years ago. It could have been me buying Oz.

[Was auch immer]

Your idea of anti-authoritarian is someone who wants to be boss? I reckon you have your thinking twisted. Online definition: belief that communities should have the right to govern themselves and not be ruled by an outside force. That is, there would be no "boss", "emperor", or whatever.

[Esteban Yelinsky]

Fred, you should be the guest speaker at every major entreprenurial conference in the country. Marvelous blog. I laughed out loud, my wife laughed out loud and I sent it around to everyone I knew and I am sure they laughed out loud as well. Of course the laughter was filled with appreciation of the wisdom contained in your 10 traits.

Do they teach this kind of stuff at the Harvard Business School???

[Sue]

I loved this, I laughed so as it really is nice to know there are others that think similar to me, and knowing that I'm not crazy, I'm just simply being me, and finding better ways, that require little or no effort. Thanks for making my day a delight
Sue

[Tom St. Louis]

I liked the list. And I liked the title, Fred. But you left out my favorite:

Plenipotentiary.

Regards,

Tom St. Louis

[Seamus "Moose" Anthony]

Fred,

You seem to be getting quite famous there Freddy boy! I still say you are a Contemporary Taoist, a master of wu-wei (effortless action).

Check out my post about Intention Manifestation for Slackers.