Entrepreneurship Introduction

1. Understanding entrepreneurship and
the Entrepreneurial Mindset
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2. What is an Entrepreneur?
An individual who undertakes the
risk associated with creating, organizing,
and owning a business.
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3. “The Design Squiggle”

4. Personal Characteristics of
Successful Entrepreneurs
•Persistent
•Creative
•Responsible
•Inquisitive
•Flexible
•Goal-oriented
•Independent
•Self-confident
•Risk taker
•Coachable
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5. Similarities Between Entrepreneurs and Researchers/Scientists
1) Innovative Thinking
Innovative thinking is key as for both entrepreneurs and researchers. They need to look out for new
opportunities, technologies, and methods to grow.
2) Doing for Innovation
Both entrepreneurs and researchers have to have the confidence of achieving success and the
willingness to fail. They take the leap and act on the ideas in their head.
3) Always Learning
To be ahead of the game entrepreneurs and researchers need to continuously pick up new
information and new skills. Those skills may be business-related, product/service related, or skills
like creative thinking or marketing.
4) Flexibility
Things just don’t always go the way as expected or planned. If entrepreneurs and researchers who
are not flexible with workload or schedules, their ventures/research may fail even before it gets off
the ground. They need to think on their feet and go with the flow.
5) No giving up
Both will face more failures than successes. In order to achieve success entrepreneurs and
researchers need to be persistent.
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6. Skills Needed by Successful Entrepreneurs
•Communication skills
•Human relations skills
•Problem-solving & Decision-making skills
•Technical skills
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7. “The Design Squiggle”

8. The business model canvas