# Business student needs help with essay



## Donna (17 Oct 2005)

hello all, i'm a bussiness student and need to do an essay, the title being "are entrepreneurs born or made?" debate.... the only problem being that i cant find one that i like, and one being related to the tourism industry (not being gillian bowler, its tooo obvious)!!!
could anybody help me please????????


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## ClubMan (17 Oct 2005)

*Re: entrepreneurs!!!!!!!*

Doesn't seem very entrepreneurial to solicit the name of your subject from a bulletin board. What has liking your subject got to do with the essay? Why not _Mick O'Leary_?


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## SteelBlue05 (17 Oct 2005)

*Re: entrepreneurs!!!!!!!*



			
				ClubMan said:
			
		

> Doesn't seem very entrepreneurial to solicit the name of your subject from a bulletin board. What has liking your subject got to do with the essay? Why not _Mick O'Leary_?


 
Can you not just make some suggestions or not post if you have no suggestions. It's as if you dont want people to post on the board at all by questioning why they are posting. Its not a trick question, the person is just looking for some suggestions!


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## ClubMan (17 Oct 2005)

If you read my post carefully you will see that I did indeed make a suggestion. I am also at a loss as to why "liking" the subject is important and would be interested in an explanation.


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## SteelBlue05 (17 Oct 2005)

*Re: entrepreneurs!!!!!!!*

Oh you did, sorry. But the tone of "doesn't seem very entrepreneurial to solicit...." - I just find that a needless and irrelevant comment. Comments and replies should be about the question at hand, not the person posting.


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## Johno (17 Oct 2005)

Clubman,

The poster asked a question seeking an answer, not for his question to be questioned, which you seem to do on a regular basis.
Johno


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## ClubMan (17 Oct 2005)

Please take discussion of contributors' tones to a separate thread to avoid taking other threads off topic. Or better still just ignore stuff that annoys you.


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## CCOVICH (17 Oct 2005)

*Re: entrepreneurs!!!!!!!*



			
				SteelBlue05 said:
			
		

> Comments and replies should be about the question at hand, not the person posting.


 
Indeed.

A couple of suggestions:


The guy who founded Aircoach
Paddywagon Tours
The guy in charge of Aer Arainn


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## Vanilla (17 Oct 2005)

Do they have to be Irish? What about that Stelios guy? Or actually did he come from a fairly wealthy background?


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## ophelia (17 Oct 2005)

What about Richard Branson (some connection via his airline with tourism) or my personal favourite Anita Roddick (Bodyshop), not really tourism. Good luck


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## efm (17 Oct 2005)

Donna

Does the essay have to be about just one person? - If I were presenting an essay / argument on the subject of entrepreneurs I would use examples from different people to support my point and no just the life / career of one.

Suggestions - Brian McCarthy founder of FEXCO - started off as a single Bureau de Change in the front room of his house in Kerry during the bank strike in the '70's

How about a local farmer who turned part of a field into a caravan park - entrepreneurs aren't all millionaires - a lot of them struggle just like everyone else


Don't forget to look at the element of luck as well - many successful entrepreneurs will say that their big break came from being in the right place at the right time!


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## sherib (17 Oct 2005)

Hi there Donna. Here's a thought. Ernst & Young, Accountants, run a competition every year to find the Irish _Entrepreneur of the Year_. The final was on RTE1 recently and the winner was Aidan Heavy who owns _Tullow Oil_. The runner up was a photographer in Kerry. A special award was made to John O'Se of _GOAL _in recognition of the contribution he has made in the field of social entrepreneurship over thirty years. The candidates appeared to be very modest and approachable while impressive in their achievements.

Maybe if you contacted E&Y they would give you a list of the selected candidates and you could contact some of then. Since it was in the public domain I think that would be quite ethical. I wouldn't imagine you could base your essay on the motivation of just one successful entrepreneur but maybe I'm wrong about that.


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## Square Mile (17 Oct 2005)

Donna

I agree with Ophelia.  If I were doing the essay, i would choose Richard Branson.  You could argure both sides i.e. born or made.  Most people assume that RB is a self made millionaire, started from the bottom, traded from a barrow in the East End etc.  He may have started from the bottom, but with the benefit of a wealthy background and the best education that money can buy.  He would be ideal if the essay required the usual oxbridge style of writing i.e. selecting three arguments for the thesis in descending order of importance, and also three arguments against the thesis, again in descending order.  You also get to slot in RB's quip that the best way to become a millionnaire, is to start as a billionnaire and buy an airline.

Regards

SM


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## CGorman (17 Oct 2005)

Square Mile said:
			
		

> You also get to slot in RB's quip that the best way to become a millionnaire, is to start as a billionnaire and buy an airline.



Great quote, but he has infact made a decent profit on his aviation businesses (losses at Virgin Express and Virgin Ballons have been outweighted by strong profits at Virgin Atlantic... and he's got the space market cornered with [broken link removed]  )

Other tourism/travel suggestions:


Pat Byrne - founder of CityJet; Irish airline, recently published autobiography.
Conrad Hilton - founder of Hilton Hotels, father was a Norwegian Immigrant, entirely self made millionaire - died in 1979 at age 91
Herb Kelleher - co-founder of Southwest Airlines, Micael O' Leary personality
Sheldon Adelson - 71 year old Jew, helped build modern Las Vegas, humble background - extensive article about his life in last weeks issue of Fortune magzine.
Sam Boyd  - another Las Vegas casino owner, arrived with only $80 and worked his way up to become a millionaire.
Tony Ryan - Irish, founder of Ryanair and Gunniess Peat aviation.
Barbara Cassani - women behind Go Fly,went to Princeton

Non travel:


Lachlan Murdoch - son of Rupert, born to run big business

Oh and heres a short article worth reading - Wikipedia - Are Entrepreneurs born or made?


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## gearoid (17 Oct 2005)

My choice is Niklas Zennstrom for being brilliant twice: Founder of Kazaa file sharing and Skype VOIP.

Lachlan Murdoch? Daddy was already rich. 

Tony Ryan started as a porter in Aer Lingus aged 14 so he's a bit more valid.

Not sure I'd pick anyone from Las Vegas. Didn't one of them get bumped off by the Corleones?

And please stay away from Denis O'Brien.


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## sherib (18 Oct 2005)

Donna - you could write the essay based on CGorman's link to Wikipedia and then just give examples from the growing list being posted on AAM. Is an entrepreneur less one because he/she started out in life with material advantages or education etc? It might help but I wouldn't think that's a crucial factor.

Neither Bill Cullen, [broken link removed] nor the guy who owns the Point and a lot of Dublin's dockland (?) Crosby, had any obvious advantages at birth. I think myself it's down to personality and being a visionary, not to mention boredom with routine _plus_ an awful lot of hard work. It's as well they're few and far between, otherwise we'd have no one to run our institutions!


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## Havsom Cents (18 Oct 2005)

Dear Club Man,was Donnas first and only post after joining a.a.m on the 18th.Please be gentle in future.After all you are an administrator up there at 9,998! .........what aboutTrump?


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## CCOVICH (18 Oct 2005)

Just to point out that I think the OP needs to write about entrepreneurs using the example of someone in the tourism industry.


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## Donna (18 Oct 2005)

thanks for all the help, really apppreciate it! as for liking hte subject, i think that it would be more anjoyable if i actually liked the subject i am doing it on! and for the record, i dont think that michael o leary is actually classed as an entrepreneur!


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## ClubMan (18 Oct 2005)

Donna said:
			
		

> i dont think that michael o leary is actually classed as an entrepreneur!


Why not? Just because he joined an existing company, shook it up and made it a market leader? You seem to be taking a narrow view of what an entrepreneur is. Maybe you could clarify?


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## legend99 (18 Oct 2005)

if it wasn't tourism you could do it about the lady who founded Anne Summers....that at least should be interesting and may have needed you to attend one of those girl only parties, only for education purposes of course!


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## SteelBlue05 (18 Oct 2005)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> Why not? Just because he joined an existing company, shook it up and made it a market leader? You seem to be taking a narrow view of what an entrepreneur is. Maybe you could clarify?


 
Is an entrepreneur not someone who sets up a company?


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## ClubMan (18 Oct 2005)

Not necessarily in my opinion.


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## SteelBlue05 (18 Oct 2005)

according to the definition he doesnt assume the risk does he?

So basically you are saying any one working in a company can be an entrepreneur? Or just successful ones?


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## SteelBlue05 (18 Oct 2005)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> Not necessarily in my opinion.


 
how about this definition..."*noun* a person who sets up a business or businesses. "

from http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/entrepreneur?view=uk


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## ClubMan (18 Oct 2005)

SteelBlue05 said:
			
		

> according to the definition he doesnt assume the risk does he?


Of course he assumes risk - his job is on the line, a significant part of his remuneration package is contingent on performance and paid by way of shares, he is a significant shareholder in the company etc...



> So basically you are saying any one working in a company can be an entrepreneur?


Yes - anybody can exhibit entrepreneurial spirit in their work no matter what the context.


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## SteelBlue05 (18 Oct 2005)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> Yes - anybody can exhibit entrepreneurial spirit in their work no matter what the context.


 
Exhibiting entrepreneurial spirit and being an entrepreneur are different things. The original poster is looking for an entrepreneur, not someone with those qualities.


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## SteelBlue05 (18 Oct 2005)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> Of course he assumes risk -
> 
> .


 
He didnt assume the risk of setting up the company, thats the point. He is not an entrepreneur.


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## sherib (18 Oct 2005)

Definitions.......there'll be no agreement on this. IMO the necessity of setting up a company would be a very narrow interpretation of the meaning of entrepreneurship or entreprenurial spirit. 


> From Wikipedia - bolding added
> Our understanding of entrepreneurship owes a lot to the work of economist Joseph Schumpeter and the Austrian School of economics. For Schumpeter (1950), an entrepreneur is a person who is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation.
> The entrepreneur is the kind of person that is *willing to put his career and financial security on the line for an idea,* spending his time and capital in an uncertain venture.
> Howard Stevenson, of Harvard University, believes that entrepreneurship is the "pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled".
> ...


 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurship

Myers-Briggs psychological tests have been used by companies to identify desired qualities in employees for particular areas of work. Leaders/Visionaries are the "ideas" people who can be very valuable within an organisation but can also be very destructive due to their propensity to pursue their own aims without regard to the cost. These personality qualities are the driving force behind such people, who seldom see failure as an option. Fine if it's their own money or time they are risking but not so good if it belongs to someone else.


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## SteelBlue05 (18 Oct 2005)

sherib said:
			
		

> IMO the necessity of setting up a company would be a very narrow interpretation of the meaning of entrepreneurship or entreprenurial spirit.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurship


 
The question is over the defintion of an entrepreneur, not entreprenurial spirit.


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## CGorman (18 Oct 2005)

gearoid said:
			
		

> Lachlan Murdoch? Daddy was already rich.



That was exactly my point... sarcasism sadly does not come accross online!

O'Leary is an Intrapreneur, very similer to an entrepreneur but not the founder.


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## CGorman (18 Oct 2005)

sherib said:
			
		

> Donna - you could write the essay based on CGorman's link to Wikipedia



Althought i'm an advocate of the wiki, there has been a lot of controversy within third level institutions about the use of wikipedia material in essays and thesises... they are afraid anyone could write something incorrect and unsourced... for example major articles like Celtic Tiger and the Economy of the Republic of Ireland were written mainly by a 16 year old in the Irish midlands...... me!


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## sherib (19 Oct 2005)

You're quite right CG, that wasn't good advice! I was only suggesting Wikipedia as a source _for a general preamble_ on the topic in question. I do agree, Wikipedia would not be an appropriate source to reference in a thesis. However, even on Wipipedia there are references which could easily be verified in a library - if they exist. 

I don't believe that having a financially rich father/mother is a major influencing factor in the development of an entrepreneur; more of the opinion it is due to _particular personality characteristics_ and that _the primary drive is not money_, though that may be the outcome.


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## Henny Penny (19 Oct 2005)

What about Bishop Horan who set up Knock Airport?


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## CGorman (19 Oct 2005)

Henny Penny said:
			
		

> What about Bishop Horan who set up Knock Airport?



Now _thats_ an interesting persepective!


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