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A widely accepted cliché is that entrepreneurs are risk takers. So it is interesting to check whether there is indeed a basis to this idea. In New Yorker article (Jan 18 2010), Malcolm Gladwell quotes a study of what successful entrepreneurs have in common. Its conclusion: “The truly successful businessman is anything but a risk-taker. He is a predator, and predators seek to incur the least risk possible while hunting.”
Another study quoted by the article focuses on the “illusions of entrepreneurship”. It says that, while many entrepreneurs do take a lot of risks, these are the failed entrepreneurs, not the successful one. The successful ones are the ones who have the vision and the discipline to focus on reducing risks.
So what is this about?
We implicitly equate “risk taker” with “ambitious” and “risk averse” with “unambitious”. We automatically assume that seeking success entails taking big risks. The perspective suggested by these studies defines a different roadmap: The most successful hunters are not the ones who continually risk their lives in the pursuit of game. They are the predators who focus on how to win the game (pun intended).
To put it another way: Gamblers often lose, casino operators rarely do.
It is not my purpose here to go into the social or ethical implications of these findings – just to share them.
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