One of the of best parts of attending Code Academy has been the amount of talks and meetups I’ve been to around Chicago. At many talks though, I’ve heard a similar question being asked: “what makes an entrepreneur?”
So far I’ve heard lots of different answers:
- “Someone not risk adverse”
- “Someone with a bias towards action”
- “Someone who just has a deep passion to do one thing”
- “Someone who can listen to customers and build what they want”
- Etc.
Here’s the thing: every time we ask that question I think we’re really asking “do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?” and we take whatever answers we’re given and we match it up against ourselves.
Playing this game is a bad idea. It’s bad because we’re poor judges of ourselves. Most of us underestimate what we’re capable of. So I think it’s best to just stop speculating whether or not you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
And best way to stop speculating? I’d bet it’s getting started and doing something …
Written by Steve Benjamins and published on January 25th, 2012.
I’ve been taking a 11 week course at Code Academy. Code Academy is a collaborative, immersive program that teaches Ruby on Rails for web app development.
1. Being an out-of-towner (I’m from Toronto) has afforded me a kind of tunnel vision. I have very little to do for next 11 weeks except learn Ruby on Rails and get involved with the Chicago tech community. It’s refreshing to have a focused lifestyle around one goal (there’s a clarity to it I guess).
2. I feel better about doing work on weekends. This is a weird one. I love working but sometimes feel guilty if I do it too much. My inner voice will say “Steve, don’t be lame. Stop working. Go hang out with people. Have fun.” … the awesome thing at Code Academy is I am in community with a bunch of people who seem to relish working. On both Saturday and Sunday, the classroom had people learning to code …. it may possible that we’re a community of enablers 
3. I’ve regained an appetite for learning new web technologies. Two thoughts on why:
- Being a freelance web designer in the past, I did much of my work in isolation. It’s easier to get excited about new technologies when you’re talking about it in a community of people.
- Learning new langauges (Ruby on Rails) maybe gives ne confidence to learn other new things I may have been neglecting.
Written by Steve Benjamins and published on January 16th, 2012.
