FFE Introduction lecture
09.02.25
Outline for today
1. What is entrepreneurship and why should you care?
2. Quiz time! Debunking common myths about entrepreneurship
3. Aims and structure of this course
Key terms (that get associated with entrepreneurship) in contemporary definitions
- Starting / Founding / Creating
- New Business / New Venture
- Innovation / New Products / New Market
- Pursuit of Opportunity
- Risk-taking / Risk Management / Uncertainty
- Profit-seeking / Personal Benefit
Entrepreneurship also means not being sure if something is going to work out.
Entrepreneurship and manager and business owner are two different things!
- Different ways to view the world
1. Entrepreneur
Core role: spotting and exploiting new opportunities.
Mindset:
- Focused on innovation, experimentation, and creating value in new ways.
- Thinks in possibilities and accepts uncertainty and risk.
- Sees the world as full of opportunities to discover or create.
Typical actions:
- Starts new ventures or initiatives.
- Tests ideas → pivots or scales.
- Creates new markets, products, or business models.
2. Manager / Business Owner
Core role: maintaining order, efficiency, and stability.
Mindset:
- Focused on managing and optimizing existing processes.
- Thinks in terms of structure, planning, and control.
- Sees the world as something that must be organized and sustained.
Typical actions:
- Oversees staff, finances, and day-to-day operations.
- Minimizes risk and seeks predictability.
- Ensures an existing business runs smoothly and profitably.
,Different ways of viewing the World
● Entrepreneur:
“Where are the opportunities others don’t see yet? How can I create value by trying
something new?”
● Manager/Owner:
“How do I make sure the business today runs efficiently, profitably, and
sustainably?”
In short:
● The entrepreneur looks to the future and changes.
● The manager/owner looks to the present and efficiency.
Summary
● Entrepreneur = change, innovation, risk, opportunity.
● Manager/owner = continuity, efficiency, control, optimization.
Both are important, but they approach the world very differently.
Entrepreneurship as a behaviour
¨Entrepreneurship is the process of creating value by bringing together a unique combination
of resources to exploit an opportunity¨
- Applies to many different contexts (startups, corporates, nonprofits etc.)
- Emphasizes the actions that entrepreneurs take (behavioral perspective) rather than
who is the entrepreneurial actor (trait perspective)
(Slide that shows differences between the entrepreneur and the manager)
,Entrepreneurship as academic field
- Many early definitions focused on who the entrepreneur is and what he or she does
- Shane and Venkatrama laid out the most impactful definition of the academic field of
entrepreneurship, defining it as: ¨The scholarly examination of how, by whom, and
with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered,
evaluated, and exploited¨.
Why ¨study¨ entrepreneurship?
- Entrepreneurs face many unique challenges compared to corporate managers -
how can I become a better entrepreneur?
- Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as critically important for society and a hot
topic area in the business world - how can we stimulate more/high-quality
entrepreneurship?
- No matter what you do after your studies - students with entrepreneurial skills enjoy
better performance in their careers
Trends promoting entrepreneurship
Technological changes
- New technologies have reduced the costs associated with creating and managing
startups while offering new value-creating opportunities (for example AI)
Economic changes
- More dynamic labor market increases the importance of skill upgrading and reduces
opportunity costs to become self-employed
Institutional changes
- The ecosystem that is needed to support entrepreneurs has improved (for example
incubators & accelerators and venture capital)
Social changes
- Entrepreneurship now often viewed as a desirable career choice
Technological changes
● What it means: Advances in technology lower the practical/operational costs of
starting and running a business.
Examples:
- Cloud computing → no need for expensive servers.
- AI tools → reduce costs of marketing, coding, customer support.
- Online platforms (Shopify, Fiverr) → make it cheap to build and scale.
Impact: Entrepreneurs need less money upfront to get started.
Focus: lower barriers to operate and create value.
, Economic changes
● What it means: Changes in the labor market and economy make entrepreneurship a
more viable career option.
Examples:
- More people switching jobs → self-employment is less risky.
- Skill upgrading (e.g., digital skills, coding) → more people are capable of starting
businesses.
- Lower “opportunity cost” → leaving a job to try a startup doesn’t mean you’re stuck if
it fails (you can re-enter the labor market).
Impact: Entrepreneurship becomes less of a personal financial gamble.
Focus: lower personal/career risk of choosing entrepreneurship.
(The picture is a landscape map of AI startups → showing how AI is fueling
entrepreneurship in multiple industries by providing both applications (health, finance, auto,
etc.) and infrastructure tools (chips, NLP, data management)).
09.02.25
Outline for today
1. What is entrepreneurship and why should you care?
2. Quiz time! Debunking common myths about entrepreneurship
3. Aims and structure of this course
Key terms (that get associated with entrepreneurship) in contemporary definitions
- Starting / Founding / Creating
- New Business / New Venture
- Innovation / New Products / New Market
- Pursuit of Opportunity
- Risk-taking / Risk Management / Uncertainty
- Profit-seeking / Personal Benefit
Entrepreneurship also means not being sure if something is going to work out.
Entrepreneurship and manager and business owner are two different things!
- Different ways to view the world
1. Entrepreneur
Core role: spotting and exploiting new opportunities.
Mindset:
- Focused on innovation, experimentation, and creating value in new ways.
- Thinks in possibilities and accepts uncertainty and risk.
- Sees the world as full of opportunities to discover or create.
Typical actions:
- Starts new ventures or initiatives.
- Tests ideas → pivots or scales.
- Creates new markets, products, or business models.
2. Manager / Business Owner
Core role: maintaining order, efficiency, and stability.
Mindset:
- Focused on managing and optimizing existing processes.
- Thinks in terms of structure, planning, and control.
- Sees the world as something that must be organized and sustained.
Typical actions:
- Oversees staff, finances, and day-to-day operations.
- Minimizes risk and seeks predictability.
- Ensures an existing business runs smoothly and profitably.
,Different ways of viewing the World
● Entrepreneur:
“Where are the opportunities others don’t see yet? How can I create value by trying
something new?”
● Manager/Owner:
“How do I make sure the business today runs efficiently, profitably, and
sustainably?”
In short:
● The entrepreneur looks to the future and changes.
● The manager/owner looks to the present and efficiency.
Summary
● Entrepreneur = change, innovation, risk, opportunity.
● Manager/owner = continuity, efficiency, control, optimization.
Both are important, but they approach the world very differently.
Entrepreneurship as a behaviour
¨Entrepreneurship is the process of creating value by bringing together a unique combination
of resources to exploit an opportunity¨
- Applies to many different contexts (startups, corporates, nonprofits etc.)
- Emphasizes the actions that entrepreneurs take (behavioral perspective) rather than
who is the entrepreneurial actor (trait perspective)
(Slide that shows differences between the entrepreneur and the manager)
,Entrepreneurship as academic field
- Many early definitions focused on who the entrepreneur is and what he or she does
- Shane and Venkatrama laid out the most impactful definition of the academic field of
entrepreneurship, defining it as: ¨The scholarly examination of how, by whom, and
with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered,
evaluated, and exploited¨.
Why ¨study¨ entrepreneurship?
- Entrepreneurs face many unique challenges compared to corporate managers -
how can I become a better entrepreneur?
- Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as critically important for society and a hot
topic area in the business world - how can we stimulate more/high-quality
entrepreneurship?
- No matter what you do after your studies - students with entrepreneurial skills enjoy
better performance in their careers
Trends promoting entrepreneurship
Technological changes
- New technologies have reduced the costs associated with creating and managing
startups while offering new value-creating opportunities (for example AI)
Economic changes
- More dynamic labor market increases the importance of skill upgrading and reduces
opportunity costs to become self-employed
Institutional changes
- The ecosystem that is needed to support entrepreneurs has improved (for example
incubators & accelerators and venture capital)
Social changes
- Entrepreneurship now often viewed as a desirable career choice
Technological changes
● What it means: Advances in technology lower the practical/operational costs of
starting and running a business.
Examples:
- Cloud computing → no need for expensive servers.
- AI tools → reduce costs of marketing, coding, customer support.
- Online platforms (Shopify, Fiverr) → make it cheap to build and scale.
Impact: Entrepreneurs need less money upfront to get started.
Focus: lower barriers to operate and create value.
, Economic changes
● What it means: Changes in the labor market and economy make entrepreneurship a
more viable career option.
Examples:
- More people switching jobs → self-employment is less risky.
- Skill upgrading (e.g., digital skills, coding) → more people are capable of starting
businesses.
- Lower “opportunity cost” → leaving a job to try a startup doesn’t mean you’re stuck if
it fails (you can re-enter the labor market).
Impact: Entrepreneurship becomes less of a personal financial gamble.
Focus: lower personal/career risk of choosing entrepreneurship.
(The picture is a landscape map of AI startups → showing how AI is fueling
entrepreneurship in multiple industries by providing both applications (health, finance, auto,
etc.) and infrastructure tools (chips, NLP, data management)).
