Praise of the Entrepreneur
Peter Záboji lecturing at Summer Leadership Academy
Peter Záboji, President of the European Entrepreneurship Foundation (EEF) has given two enlightening lectures at the Summer Leadership Academy organized by the Common Sense Society at Chateau Bercel. The first lecture’s title was “Entrepreneurship – The Mantra of the 21st Century!”.
Bosch, Coca Cola, Daimler-Benz or Siemens are all encountered as corporate giants. Yet, Werner von Siemens (Telegraph, 1847), Karl Daimler (Automobile. 1886) or Dr. Pemberton (Coke, 1886) were all startup entrepreneurs, only their companies became big much later in the 20th century.
How great companies are born is a true miracle. Thanks to Apple, Facebook, Google or Skype the young generation has eyes for and is impressed by how companies are being born. These firms are remarkable because of their exponential growth and global omnipresence. Businesses created in the 19th and 20th centuries were all “brick” companies and their expansion took for many decades. Management theory was dealing with these challenges. The very name of this academic discipline says it all: “Business Administration“.
It is another but equally impressive story how these corporations have managed to prosper for more than one hundred years. Companies, like living organisms, fight for survival. Corporations need to be rejuvenated from time to time and this effort calls for Entrepreneurship at a higher level. Managers speak about restructuring and reorganizing; entrepreneurial leaders speak and breathe rejuvenation, as they reinvent their companies.
Today’s young generation was born into the “click” world. You do not need to build factories and large organizations today, requiring huge financial and human resources. In order to get started, you only need an email address and a mobile phone. And not so much an idea but a dedicated team: people you share your aspiration and values with. On the other hand, you will be embedded into an ecosystem. You can no longer think of yourself as a “silo”, a sole trader or a standalone business. We live in an interconnected world. The fixed-line telephone gained 150 million users in 89 years, television got to the same point after 38 years, mobile phone in 14, iPod in 7 and Facebook in 5!
EEF was created with the objective to promote entrepreneurship in the Central European region. Peter gives his courses in English. How could we promote entrepreneurship using the tainted word of “vállalkozó”? This latter expression has a negative connotation in a society which lived through an era of unfair and murky privatization of public wealth. EEF proves again and again that it is truly possible to build a global company out of Budapest. Neither God, nor the government can create jobs: entrepreneurs do and they can revive the ailing economy.
So how is it possible to finance nascent companies? The traditional and at the same time mistaken approach would point to bank loans and “pályázatírás” (applying to public and EU money to finance businesses). The latter leads to erroneous planning, the former is simply not available for startups. This is where entrepreneurial investors come into the picture. The English term “venture capital” describes more accurately the underlying idea of this approach than the continental European expression “risk” (the Hungarian term “kockázati tőke” translates into risk capital). Where many see risk, we need to see opportunity! Sadly, most people employed in VC firms have the managerial point of view. It is tolerance for ambiguity, passion and a high need for achievement that makes the entrepreneurial mindset different. You should be willing to pay for doing what you are doing. Keep it in mind: we are not born as employees, even though our parents and society tell us the opposite. The era of lifetime employment is kaput.
To nurture a generation of young entrepreneurs, role models are needed. And in Budapest we have formidable ones: think of Adam Somlai-Fischer and Peter Arvai of Prezi, Marton Szoke of IndexTools and Marton Anka of LogMeIn. Media usually covers the views of incompetent politicians and academic pundits who have no idea how to make business in the 21st century. Peter is convinced that entrepreneurial traits can be adopted, but a positive and encouraging environment is needed where one will encounter living examples of entrepreneurial success and receive the necessary motivation instead of the negative comments of naysayers. As Andrew Grove said, you are the CEO of your own career: he rewarded engineers in his own company who failed in a particular project. Society tends to stigmatize failure, while entrepreneurs do need to fail from time to time.
How many established corporations tolerate failure…?
Testimonials from the audience:
“Great speaker, obviously. And vital topic for Hungarian audience.”
“As someone who studies economics at undergraduate level, I found the models basic at times, but I felt that he condensed theory nicely and explained it well for us.”
“Growing up, I was told and taught that entrepreneurs are evil Mafiosi and to never engage such an unsecure career as being an entrepreneur. You have convinced me along with the other lectures! It was very inspiring!”
“I would love to participate in smaller workshops as well concerning this topic.”
“Probably one of the most useful lectures at the Academy!”
“Second lecture was not as fresh as the 1st, but still good. Approaching cliché at one or two points, but ultimately a helpful presentation.”
“Great speaker!”
CSS: Summer Leadership Academy
From CSS press release
The inaugural Summer Leadership Academy (July 25 – July 29) was hosted by the Common Sense Society at Bercel Kastély in Nógrád County, Hungary. Over the course of five days and four nights, twenty-six selected participants gained an invaluable theoretical grounding in philosophy, economics, politics, and law, while also taking part in workshops and simulations. The Academy participants were selected from among 140 highly qualified applicants mostly from Hungary, but also from Central and Eastern Europe, the UK and the USA.
The Common Sense Society, founded in 2009 “exists to promote civic engagement, entrepreneurship, and the ideals of responsible liberty among university students and young professionals” and “believes that the civic education and political engagement of young people is a crucial aspect of Hungary’s transition from a post-communist state towards a truly free and prosperous society.”
