Entrepreneurship: boiler-plate trend or the way of the future?
June 14, 2010 10:09 PM
I am a young person terrified of this so-called 'new economy' we are entering. I don't have the entrepreneurial streak that everyone says is necessary for success, and my strengths are not ones valued in the labor market. How do I avoid underemployment and unemployment?
It seems like every other week I read a piece predicting a future in which employment as we know it is dead, and everyone (successful) is an entrepreneur. The fields which traditionally had a clear path to steady and remunerative professional work are in shambles- being a professor, doctor or lawyer is not the deal it used to be.
I already have a bachelor's degree, a few years of work history, and I'll be working on a PhD soon. I am getting the graduate degree not because I think it will get me a job, but because it's the best way I could think of to use my time and mind for the next five years, and I will have zero debt.
I am a relatively conservative, non-competitive, risk-averse person, so I don't see myself as an entrepreneur. I would rather make small improvements to the wheel than reinvent it. Is there anything I can do about that now, since I see the writing on the wall? Are we really entering an age where you either take big risks or burden yourself with a decade or more of debt and training just to find a career? I can come to terms with that if it is the new reality, but I can't imagine how I would cope and avoid long spells of unemployment without falling into minimally skilled work and never recovering. Do I just need an attitude adjustment, or are there concrete things I can do to improve my prospects after the economic shakedown is over?
It seems like every other week I read a piece predicting a future in which employment as we know it is dead, and everyone (successful) is an entrepreneur. The fields which traditionally had a clear path to steady and remunerative professional work are in shambles- being a professor, doctor or lawyer is not the deal it used to be.
I already have a bachelor's degree, a few years of work history, and I'll be working on a PhD soon. I am getting the graduate degree not because I think it will get me a job, but because it's the best way I could think of to use my time and mind for the next five years, and I will have zero debt.
I am a relatively conservative, non-competitive, risk-averse person, so I don't see myself as an entrepreneur. I would rather make small improvements to the wheel than reinvent it. Is there anything I can do about that now, since I see the writing on the wall? Are we really entering an age where you either take big risks or burden yourself with a decade or more of debt and training just to find a career? I can come to terms with that if it is the new reality, but I can't imagine how I would cope and avoid long spells of unemployment without falling into minimally skilled work and never recovering. Do I just need an attitude adjustment, or are there concrete things I can do to improve my prospects after the economic shakedown is over?
slow graffiti: It seems like every other week I read a piece predicting a future in which employment as we know it is dead, and everyone (successful) is an entrepreneur.
First up, work out how many of those are written by an entrepreneur trying to sell you something. Or giving press to an entrepreneur. who is trying to sell you something.
Second, check out your definition of successful. I go a few rounds of this with my family every time I visit - their definition has an entrepreneurial vibe whereas mine vehemently doesn't.
Third, not everyone can be an entrepreneur, or a 'lifestyle designer' - those things absolutely require a community of non-entrepreneurs and non-lifestyle designers to create the community in which they work. Both have a tendency to make out like it's a personal failing not to be like them but I think that's a certain amount of ego crossing over with a certain amount of defensiveness.
posted by geek anachronism at 10:28 PM on June 14, 2010
First up, work out how many of those are written by an entrepreneur trying to sell you something. Or giving press to an entrepreneur. who is trying to sell you something.
Second, check out your definition of successful. I go a few rounds of this with my family every time I visit - their definition has an entrepreneurial vibe whereas mine vehemently doesn't.
Third, not everyone can be an entrepreneur, or a 'lifestyle designer' - those things absolutely require a community of non-entrepreneurs and non-lifestyle designers to create the community in which they work. Both have a tendency to make out like it's a personal failing not to be like them but I think that's a certain amount of ego crossing over with a certain amount of defensiveness.
posted by geek anachronism at 10:28 PM on June 14, 2010
Getting a PhD isn't zero debt. You're losing real world contacts and income (and investments) for 5+ years (childfree ones at that.)
I regret going back for my PhD now.
posted by k8t at 11:25 PM on June 14, 2010
I regret going back for my PhD now.
posted by k8t at 11:25 PM on June 14, 2010
I am a relatively conservative, non-competitive, risk-averse person, so I don't see myself as an entrepreneur. I would rather make small improvements to the wheel than reinvent it.
I thought you said you didn't have any skills that an employer would value, and yet, there you are. Look, the media is full of stories about entrepreneurs and new employment and all that crap, because it attracts readers/viewers and, therefore, money. But let's be clear, no business can get done if your business is full of entrepreneur-types -- everyone would talk all day, party all night, and then wonder why none of their brilliant ideas are getting acted upon.
Every business needs an army of people who can get work done effectively while minimizing risk. You are one of these people. Sure, you'll have to work hard to evangelize yourself to get jobs, but you'll quickly become indispensable by virtue of your willing to support the team, desire to avoid risk, and simple conservative work ethic. If you're lazy, or foolish, or not very bright, well sure, you will likely do poorly, but a work ethic and a brain and a pleasant demeanor will get you surprisingly far.
In short: stop worrying, exercise that brain, learn how to land a job, and then marvel at how appreciated your skills are -- and of course, pay attention to learning how to toot your own horn a little and communicate better, to increase the odds that your positive attributes will be noticed and rewarded financially and otherwise.
posted by davejay at 11:41 PM on June 14, 2010
I thought you said you didn't have any skills that an employer would value, and yet, there you are. Look, the media is full of stories about entrepreneurs and new employment and all that crap, because it attracts readers/viewers and, therefore, money. But let's be clear, no business can get done if your business is full of entrepreneur-types -- everyone would talk all day, party all night, and then wonder why none of their brilliant ideas are getting acted upon.
Every business needs an army of people who can get work done effectively while minimizing risk. You are one of these people. Sure, you'll have to work hard to evangelize yourself to get jobs, but you'll quickly become indispensable by virtue of your willing to support the team, desire to avoid risk, and simple conservative work ethic. If you're lazy, or foolish, or not very bright, well sure, you will likely do poorly, but a work ethic and a brain and a pleasant demeanor will get you surprisingly far.
In short: stop worrying, exercise that brain, learn how to land a job, and then marvel at how appreciated your skills are -- and of course, pay attention to learning how to toot your own horn a little and communicate better, to increase the odds that your positive attributes will be noticed and rewarded financially and otherwise.
posted by davejay at 11:41 PM on June 14, 2010
The bright, nose-to-the-grindstone people are just as valuable as the entrepreneurs. Just not as visible.
posted by squorch at 11:49 PM on June 14, 2010
posted by squorch at 11:49 PM on June 14, 2010
The entrepreneurial streak is necessary for success if what you want to succeed at is being an entrepreneur. Otherwise it mostly gets in the way.
posted by ook at 12:59 AM on June 15, 2010
posted by ook at 12:59 AM on June 15, 2010
Entrepreneurs still need to hire people to get shit done. Seriously.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:30 AM on June 15, 2010
posted by DarlingBri at 2:30 AM on June 15, 2010
You are a better writer than the majority of college graduates. That is a marketable skill.
posted by Jacqueline at 4:05 AM on June 15, 2010
posted by Jacqueline at 4:05 AM on June 15, 2010
I am a relatively conservative, non-competitive, risk-averse person
Plenty of steady government jobs. Lots of my family has worked for government in the US and overseas, and it isn't all dry and boring.
posted by procrastination at 4:45 AM on June 15, 2010
Plenty of steady government jobs. Lots of my family has worked for government in the US and overseas, and it isn't all dry and boring.
posted by procrastination at 4:45 AM on June 15, 2010
My entrepreneurship professor said multiple times, "You're going to have to move up the value chain".
You don't have to start a business, but you're going to think of how you can add value to your career field, better than your potential competition. If you do something replaceable, you will be replaced by someone cheaper and hungrier.
If you are a generic commodity employee, regardless of what degrees you have, you could just be replaced by any other commodity employee (whether that's a math professor, an MBA, or a programmer).
Be someone who has marketable people skills, leadership, and specialized (valuable) knowledge. You may find at a certain point, as an expert in your field, that you are driven to capitalize on an opportunity that no one else sees, and find an entrepreneurial spirit you never knew you had.
posted by mhuckaba at 4:51 AM on June 15, 2010
You don't have to start a business, but you're going to think of how you can add value to your career field, better than your potential competition. If you do something replaceable, you will be replaced by someone cheaper and hungrier.
If you are a generic commodity employee, regardless of what degrees you have, you could just be replaced by any other commodity employee (whether that's a math professor, an MBA, or a programmer).
Be someone who has marketable people skills, leadership, and specialized (valuable) knowledge. You may find at a certain point, as an expert in your field, that you are driven to capitalize on an opportunity that no one else sees, and find an entrepreneurial spirit you never knew you had.
posted by mhuckaba at 4:51 AM on June 15, 2010
So, you work for an entrepreneur.
My husband is the same way. He has no interest in running his own business. His goal is to never be his own boss and always work for the man. And he is incredibly valued where he currently works (gov't lab) due to his hard work and insights for incremental change.
I know others who work at start ups who have the same point of view (including myself to some extent)---no desire to be the CEO, lots of desire to do good work for the company. There is a lot of success available there.
posted by chiefthe at 5:13 AM on June 15, 2010
My husband is the same way. He has no interest in running his own business. His goal is to never be his own boss and always work for the man. And he is incredibly valued where he currently works (gov't lab) due to his hard work and insights for incremental change.
I know others who work at start ups who have the same point of view (including myself to some extent)---no desire to be the CEO, lots of desire to do good work for the company. There is a lot of success available there.
posted by chiefthe at 5:13 AM on June 15, 2010
The entrepreneurial streak is necessary for success if what you want to succeed at is being an entrepreneur. Otherwise it mostly gets in the way.
Exactly.
The vast, vast majority of the world works for someone else. Do you seriously put any credence in a definition of 'success' that excludes anyone working in a respected profession, making decent money as an employee of someone else? Because I know a fair number of doctors and lawyers and engineers and teachers and accountants and god-only-know-who-else who are working for The Man and who would beg to differ.
Moreover, if my experiences are at all representative, the new wave of entrepreneurship is largely fueled by mid-20's college grads who can't find work in exactly the niche they think they're entitled to work in, and who are instead trying their hand at putting out a shingle of their own. Most of them are failing, full-stop. Most if not all of them have fallback plans that can roughly be expressed as 'mom and dad will make sure I don't get evicted.' If I had a nickel for every person I've talked to who had a can't-miss alternative-to-Facebook/killer-app-for-Facebook/iPhone-app-guaranteed-to-make-millions, I would be, well, a self-made entrepreneur myself. I personally know of zero success stories out of that lot. There's a lot of empty talk and entitlement behind the entrepreneurship-as-normative movement, but there are just enough success stories to keep the carrot in sight, while conveniently ignoring the stick. Zuckerberg and Jobs and Sergey Brin are aberrations, but you don't hear much talk about the hundreds of thousands of failed attempts in the interim.
You are not required to change the world, nor are you some kind of failure if you follow the path more-traveled. Do what makes you happy. Like a Ph.D! Which will let you spend the rest of your life doing what you (presumably) love to do!
posted by Mayor West at 5:24 AM on June 15, 2010
Exactly.
The vast, vast majority of the world works for someone else. Do you seriously put any credence in a definition of 'success' that excludes anyone working in a respected profession, making decent money as an employee of someone else? Because I know a fair number of doctors and lawyers and engineers and teachers and accountants and god-only-know-who-else who are working for The Man and who would beg to differ.
Moreover, if my experiences are at all representative, the new wave of entrepreneurship is largely fueled by mid-20's college grads who can't find work in exactly the niche they think they're entitled to work in, and who are instead trying their hand at putting out a shingle of their own. Most of them are failing, full-stop. Most if not all of them have fallback plans that can roughly be expressed as 'mom and dad will make sure I don't get evicted.' If I had a nickel for every person I've talked to who had a can't-miss alternative-to-Facebook/killer-app-for-Facebook/iPhone-app-guaranteed-to-make-millions, I would be, well, a self-made entrepreneur myself. I personally know of zero success stories out of that lot. There's a lot of empty talk and entitlement behind the entrepreneurship-as-normative movement, but there are just enough success stories to keep the carrot in sight, while conveniently ignoring the stick. Zuckerberg and Jobs and Sergey Brin are aberrations, but you don't hear much talk about the hundreds of thousands of failed attempts in the interim.
You are not required to change the world, nor are you some kind of failure if you follow the path more-traveled. Do what makes you happy. Like a Ph.D! Which will let you spend the rest of your life doing what you (presumably) love to do!
posted by Mayor West at 5:24 AM on June 15, 2010
In either Bobos in Paradise or On Paradise Drive (I think the latter), David Brooks talks about how the companies that are the most consistently good investments over 30 years are the companies that focus on the small improvements to the wheel, where a middle manager finds a way to print receipts 2 seconds faster and across 5,000 stores in the chain that 2 seconds per receipt adds up to significant savings in employee time (and therefore payroll money) each year.
As much as the media loves stories about entrepreneurs, we don't yet live in a world where it's all generals, no soldiers -- not by a long shot.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:33 AM on June 15, 2010
As much as the media loves stories about entrepreneurs, we don't yet live in a world where it's all generals, no soldiers -- not by a long shot.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:33 AM on June 15, 2010
I am a relatively conservative, non-competitive, risk-averse person, so I don't see myself as an entrepreneur. I would rather make small improvements to the wheel than reinvent it. Is there anything I can do about that now, since I see the writing on the wall?
As other people have pointed out, the cult-of-the-risk-taking-entrepreneur is just a lot of media hype. It's there because it's a more interesting story than, "get a steady, well paying job, save money, retire." It's so easy to, as Mayor West said, "follow the path more-traveled" that there are going to be a lot of people prevailing upon smart young people like you not to do that, and the truth is that it's not necessarily a good fit for many people.
What I'd advise, though, since you're a Ph.D. student, is to take this into account: your career could end up involving a lot of adjunct-teaching jobs and skipping from place to place trying to support yourself each semester while you hope against hope to find a tenure-track faculty position. That is the high-risk path that you should know that you want to avoid.
You haven't talked about what you see yourself doing, career-wise. Have you given any thought to that?
posted by deanc at 6:02 AM on June 15, 2010
As other people have pointed out, the cult-of-the-risk-taking-entrepreneur is just a lot of media hype. It's there because it's a more interesting story than, "get a steady, well paying job, save money, retire." It's so easy to, as Mayor West said, "follow the path more-traveled" that there are going to be a lot of people prevailing upon smart young people like you not to do that, and the truth is that it's not necessarily a good fit for many people.
What I'd advise, though, since you're a Ph.D. student, is to take this into account: your career could end up involving a lot of adjunct-teaching jobs and skipping from place to place trying to support yourself each semester while you hope against hope to find a tenure-track faculty position. That is the high-risk path that you should know that you want to avoid.
You haven't talked about what you see yourself doing, career-wise. Have you given any thought to that?
posted by deanc at 6:02 AM on June 15, 2010
No one needs an entrepreneurial streak. What they need are employees they can trust and employees that are loyal and fall into line. Get too creative and you're thought of as unreliable sometimes. Your boss will prefer that you're on the same page and fairly transparent.
posted by anniecat at 6:46 AM on June 15, 2010
posted by anniecat at 6:46 AM on June 15, 2010
You can have a successful career without an entrepreneurial streak. But what are you planning to do with your PhD? Tenure-track principal investigators in the sciences and engineering basically are entrepreneurs who run small businesses.
I am getting the graduate degree not because I think it will get me a job, but because it's the best way I could think of to use my time and mind for the next five years, and I will have zero debt.
This is a bad idea. Identify the job you want. If a PhD would help you get it, then get the PhD. Otherwise do something else.
posted by grouse at 7:08 AM on June 15, 2010
I am getting the graduate degree not because I think it will get me a job, but because it's the best way I could think of to use my time and mind for the next five years, and I will have zero debt.
This is a bad idea. Identify the job you want. If a PhD would help you get it, then get the PhD. Otherwise do something else.
posted by grouse at 7:08 AM on June 15, 2010
IMO, the main characteristic of the new economy is that there is no such thing as job security. This doesn't mean you need to become an entrepreneur, but it does mean that you need to manage your own career. Managing your career consists of continuing to acquire new skills and new contacts. Think of your resume and how you can make yourself a more attractive candidate, both for positions in your current organization as well as outside. Maintain your network and your reputation. That way if, heaven forbid, you do lose your job due to economic or other reasons, you have a much better chance of landing something comparable.
posted by elmay at 7:27 AM on June 15, 2010
posted by elmay at 7:27 AM on June 15, 2010
Don't base any decisions on what you read in the business section a newspaper or magazine. Here's how they usually work:
They receive a press release from a business (often with quotable "interviews" and photos included) and they polish it up to look like a news article. It's pretty much all advertising disguised as analysis.
Glamorizing the hot-shots who embody the current business zeitgeist make for sexier stories.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:59 AM on June 15, 2010
They receive a press release from a business (often with quotable "interviews" and photos included) and they polish it up to look like a news article. It's pretty much all advertising disguised as analysis.
Glamorizing the hot-shots who embody the current business zeitgeist make for sexier stories.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:59 AM on June 15, 2010
Getting a PhD isn't zero debt. You're losing real world contacts and income (and investments) for 5+ years (childfree ones at that.)
I regret going back for my PhD now.
Though this experience may be less applicable now given the current economic conditions. I myself am in a similar position as the poster. I am looking to start on a PhD in physics this fall; I lost my first job out of college in under a year pretty much the minute the economy imploded, and considering what I've managed to make the last year and a half, 20k up to 40k a year doing something I enjoy is looking pretty darn good as a job opportunity if nothing else.
posted by Zalzidrax at 12:46 PM on June 15, 2010
I regret going back for my PhD now.
Though this experience may be less applicable now given the current economic conditions. I myself am in a similar position as the poster. I am looking to start on a PhD in physics this fall; I lost my first job out of college in under a year pretty much the minute the economy imploded, and considering what I've managed to make the last year and a half, 20k up to 40k a year doing something I enjoy is looking pretty darn good as a job opportunity if nothing else.
posted by Zalzidrax at 12:46 PM on June 15, 2010
Don't get a PhD without a clear idea of what you're going to do with it. Don't get a PhD out of a vague sense that you love knowledge or the like. PhDs are not general-purpose credentials; they will only help with certain kinds of job goals. Even funded PhDs are not risk-free - they take longer than people realize and can have heavy personal costs beyond money (even though for some people they are good to do).
While you are in grad school, keep your eye on that future job for which you're getting the degree. Once you're done you will have to go on the job market and in most cases a PhD alone is not enough. Think about what kinds of courses, research, contacts, training courses, certifications, conferences, networking, internships, freelance writing or editorial work, etc will actually help you move toward the job for which you're getting the PhD. Talk to people who are in the job you want, and find out what matters in getting hired there so that you can build your skills, credentials, and network in the right way.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:58 PM on June 15, 2010
While you are in grad school, keep your eye on that future job for which you're getting the degree. Once you're done you will have to go on the job market and in most cases a PhD alone is not enough. Think about what kinds of courses, research, contacts, training courses, certifications, conferences, networking, internships, freelance writing or editorial work, etc will actually help you move toward the job for which you're getting the PhD. Talk to people who are in the job you want, and find out what matters in getting hired there so that you can build your skills, credentials, and network in the right way.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:58 PM on June 15, 2010
Re: doing a PhD in humanities, let me do the honours and invite you to explore what the interwebs have to say on the topic.
posted by coffee_monster at 5:58 AM on June 18, 2010
posted by coffee_monster at 5:58 AM on June 18, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by santaliqueur at 10:16 PM on June 14, 2010