26
January
2012
|
01:10 AM
America/Los_Angeles

Entrepreneurship is a fundamental human expression whose absence is always a sign of oppression

A group of Indian students at Velammal Engineering College are putting together a book: "500 Definitions Of Entrepreneurship" and they asked me for my definition. Here's what I sent:

Entrepreneurship is an intrinsic human quality that we all possess, and in its finest forms it represents attention to the most urgent needs of society. The absence of entrepreneurism is always a sign that there is active suppression of this fundamental human expression. Entrepreneurship is always innovative because it finds what is not and creates what is.

The final sentence is a bit vague and Hallmark-like but... I'll probably mess with it some more. Let me know if you have a definition.

Updated: OK, not really a definition in a strict sense, I'm sure that the engineering students aren't looking for 500 definitions to improve one word in their local dictionary. For example, the Wikipedia definition: "...the act of being an entrepreneur" is accurate and concise, My contribution is more about the process, motivation, and the meaning of the spirit of entrepreneurship. And I hope they collect many more in that vein -- that's a book I'd love to read.