Types of Wannabe Entrepreneurs

Written by on May 3 2016

After Steve’s blog post last week’s There Are Four Types of Entrepreneurs we received a few emails about our definition of “Wannabe.”

I define “Wannabe Entrepreneur” as someone who hasn’t made money. These are just patterns I’ve seen over the past decade in this tech entrepreneur space.

Idea guy

  • Loves to collect ideas
  • Never starts anything
  • Example: They’ll say “Facebook…I had that idea”
  • Feels jealous of those who start
  • Can’t start, don’t know how or where to start…
  • Maybe lacking the skill of a craftsman
  • Doesn’t spend any time doing customer research/development
  • Volume of ideas what they’re proud of

The Starter

  • Loves the first month of any new project
  • Always has something new they’re working on
  • Has some skills to create
  • Gets distracted by something else
  • Thinks the next idea will be the “big one”
  • Is made up of half idea person and half craftsman
  • Something is stopping them from working on their idea longer than a month

Researcher

  • Gets a few ideas for businesses per year
  • Loves to research the idea
  • Joins forums, gets hung up on all the options, variations of the execution of the idea
  • Is in love with the idea
  • Something is stopping this person from starting

Participant

  • Just wants to be a part of something
  • Waiting for someone to ask them to be a part of something
  • Sees value in being a “first follower” of an idea
  • Early adopter of all tech, products, work habits & productivity methodology
  • Bought the first iPhone, bought the apple watch, bought soylent, they probably told you about Facebook in 2007

Workhorse

  • Heads down
  • Gets one idea and starts building
  • Craftsmen are sometimes workhorses
  • They’ll say…“I spent a year building that and never launched it”
  • Has few ideas, usually bad
  • They “go dark” to build their idea and emerge later with a product that no one wants

The Jib Jabber

  • Blogs every thought
  • Promotes all things
  • Super positive about everything
  • Writes blog posts and preaches about all the things they’ve learned
  • Spends too much time promoting and not enough time doing customer development
  • Loves the spotlight, loves to name drop, loves the glory, calls themselves an “entrepreneur” because they have a blog
  • Might have started several podcasts
  • Changes blog themes at least once a year…like that’s going to make them famous

The Paralyzed

  • Usually a builder
  • Might be part researcher
  • Can’t launch
  • Can’t really start building
  • Paralyzed by the fear of wasting time
  • Paralyzed by the options
  • Paralyzed by life’s distractions
  • They have few ideas and can’t let go of an idea
  • The idea of the passing time only paralyses them more
  • They’re shadowed by a dark cloud. They’re like a researcher but they have the ability to build something but can’t motivate or inspire herself into starting

One of these might be you. I’ve been an idea guy, I’ve been a jib jabber, I’ve been a workhorse.

But there’s hope…I changed, I’m changing and you can change. You can ask for help. You can move from “Wannabe” to entrepreneur, you just need to realize your strengths and weaknesses. If you can’t strengthen your weaknesses then you can find a partner that’ll help you grow, coach you, push you or take up for those weaknesses. You’ll be better with them than you’ll be alone.

Meet
Allan

Hi I'm Allan,

I wrote the article you're reading... I'm one of the co-founders of LessEverything. I love my family more than breathing and I love creating videos about our family adventures.

Get Blog Updates