I am sorry to hear about your dad. He sounds like a very interesting man, willing to take challenges. I agree with the statement “It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, and it has nothing to do with genes.  It’s a discipline, and, like any discipline, it can be learned.” Entrepreneurs firstly come to value time as individuals and once they have mastered that, they acquire sufficient knowledge on the subject that interests them. This may be done personally or by hiring a consultant. Once they review and realize that there are more pros than cons, they invest. After all, they are in there for the profits. But what is amazing is that many are making profits while doing what they love. Entrepreneurs are just like you and I, having normal dreams, they just have the ability or desire to seek and take a risk to invest. They follow their hearts that is led by their heads.
The article is very interesting, makes a person think. Thank you

http://www.calloftheentrepreneur.com/

From the site:
"A merchant banker. A failing dairy farmer. A refugee from Communist China. One risked his savings. One risked his farm. One risked his life.

Why do their stories matter? Because how we view entrepreneurs—as greedy or altruistic, as virtuous or vicious—shapes the destinies of individuals and nations."

The idea of an "entrepreneur gene" is so unfounded and bogus I had to stop reading the article.  Having success with an entrepreneurial venture likely (I'm not so naive to say it absolutely won't) does not depend on a single protein being manufactured in the body.  Diseases and disorders can easily be a result of a lack of a protein, as a deficiency would cause chemical imbalances or cause entire metabolic networks to be ineffective, but for something that is so subjective, if it is genetic, it certainly would not be a single "entrepreneur gene" but a complex interplay of many the eventually affects the mindset of the person.  Personally, as a person who believes very strongly in a lot things being preordained by genetics, I think this has more to due with nurture and the ability of the brain to be plastic, that is reorganize itself based on experience.

Having known and counseled very large numbers of entrepreneurs, and having been one myself from an early age, I have seen sufficient compelling bits that suggest you are on to something. Of course environmental factors also play a big role- parents sometimes mentor kids to be what they couldn't or didn't for example, or steer those with a certain aptitude.

When I hear someone say they have an entrepreneurial itch- my response is that it can be treated with minor theraputics. When it's sufficiently feverish for the individual to do what's necessary to satisfy, that's when I become interested. - MM

Hello, Eve. I am sorry for your feelings of loss, with your father no longer physically present. But, be assured he lives on in you! What a great article, what a great question you pose! I am the granddaughter of a multimillionaire entrepreneur. My father was working/walking in his footsteps. In was in the early 40's, and he was one of the first insurance tycoons to have a personal airplane to take his power across the nation. He was killed in an automobile accident with my father. My father was only in his late 20's. He was married and had two children. I was one of them. He lost everything. His other two brothers did not have the longing to grasp dreams that seemed unattainable to a normal mind. My father was hospitalized for over six months, and he battled back. We moved to the capitol of IL, and he went to work for an unknown insurance agent. I spent summers working in that office, starting at the age of 12. Because he was the boss of this regional office, he was able to wander off to play golf at least three afternoons a week. He ended up a bartender. Years went by. He lost his family, his home, and was living in the Elks Club for men - then he got an idea. He came to me. Together we built an empire that to this day lingers to the waves of off-shore drilling. He insured everything and anything that no one else would take a chance on. He bought an insurance company for 4.5 million dollars, and off he went. He remarried a woman my age, who worked with him, kept him happy, and brought seven more children to the mix, making the final count an even dozen. She died after thirty-five years of marriage. My father lost his best friend - but his dreams and drives continue. He has residences all the way to LasVegas (his favorite). Last I heard he had a nine digit income. He is 86. Me? I was selling home-made tickets to my dance recital to neighbors for a nickle, when I was only 5. I sold made to order color pot holders, all occasion cards, girl scout cookies, raised my sisters, head-lined the other children in the family, as the two-parent team got lost from the tree. I married my childhood sweetheart, had a son, adopted two more, worked at our 800 bed hospital for 17 years while I employeed my biggest challenge of being a single mother of three sons for 15 years. I started my first business, "The Medical Secretary", which was one of the first ancillary services of its kind in this 110,000 pop. city. It eventually was running itself, when I bought a construction company and made over $300,000 in less than three months. My third company was Secretary's Ink. It was a community success for other entrepreneurs, in need of professional secretarial services. My middle son died while enjoying a ride on his motorcycle. He was 22. Like my father, I had isolated my little family of 4 from the dynamics of lost parents due to lost priorities. I wanted to show my sons that they could attain any goal they chose to follow - salaried or otherwise. I showed them both. One is a computer engineer working for the Federal Reserve. One was just promoted to commercial supervisor of a large HVAC company - when he died. He bought his first house when he was 19. My oldest son - wanders upward taking knowledge from the likes of Caterpillar, Bunn-o-Matic, and other large businesses as a mechanical engineer. He has created and tested two companies of his own. Fear keeps many an entrepreneur from jumping into an unknown dark gorge. He is now learning land development, of which his father owns and has made his million following. He creates subdivisions. Me, I've added two more businesses - KTE Consultant, KTE Business Re-Organization System. My passion lies in writing - about the world events, the people, passion. I am semi-retired at this point. I am waiting to catch the next good wave. I have no doubt that you/I have been born with the entrepreneural spirit and drive. It is very important to realize that and the potential to prevail and explore will never die. Thanks for the memory walk, Eve. God Bless.

Enjoyed the article and the debate.  My experience is that it's really both.  Some people are born and with some it's a learned skill.  I watch un-entrepreneurs gain those skills every day as a vital part of my own business.

Great question and great debate. I think in my case its a combination of blood and environment. I'm the oldest of three daughters who all grew up in the same environment. Yet I'm the only one on this path. I come from a very large family of entrepreneurs and always say its in my blood, but I believe its both.

hi, my name is emanuel james station,jr i live in baker, louisiana i started a smallbusiness named www.giswus.com, because my mother has alzheimer's an someone needs to be with her all of the time. i stopped working to stay home with her. with no help from my family it's been up an down. you see my mother was an still is a very good person an mother. i never opened a smallbusiness before an i need a lot of help. on the paper end as well as the business end. my dream is to run a good business an some day be able to hire worker's an some how start a foundation so that people that has to do what i am during for my mother out of pure love, could maybe not have it as hard as i am having it know. my home number is 225-775-5452 thank you for your time an may GOD bless.

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