MODULE 1: ENTREPRENEURSHIP,

ENTREPRENEURIAL PROFILE &

COMPETENCIES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Define Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship

• Characteristics of an Enrepreneur
• Understand the Basic Aspects of being an Entrepreneur regardless of
the field
• Explain the types of start-ups
• Define technopreneur and technopreneurship
• Understand technological innovation
• Identify the importance of technology strategy

DEFINITION OF ENTREPRENEUR AND

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneurship
The process of creating something new with value by devoting
the necessary time and effort, assuming the accompanying
financial, psychic, and social risks, and receiving the resulting
rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction and
independence.

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ENTREPRENEUR HAS THE FOLLOWING
CHARACTERISTICS:
• Initiative taker
• Organize
• Risk taker

THE FOUR BASIC ASPECTS OF BEING AN

ENTREPRENEUR REGARDLESS OF THE FIELD:
• Entrepreneurship involves the creation process.
• Entrepreneurship requires the devotion of the necessary time
and effort.
• Necessary risks.
• Rewards of being an entrepreneur.

TYPES OF START-UPS

• Lifestyle firms
A lifestyle firm is privately held and usually achieves only modest
growth due to the nature of the business, the objectives of the
entrepreneur, and the limited money devoted to research and
development.

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• Foundation companies
The foundation company is created from research and
development and lays the foundation for a new business area.

• High-potential ventures
The high-potential venture is the one that receives the greatest
investment interest and publicity.

TECHNOPRENEURS & THE TECHNOLOGY

EVOLUTION
Technopreneurs are entrepreneurs who used “technology” as
their driven factor in transforming resources into goods and
services, creating an environment conducive to industrial growth

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Technopreneurship is, by a large part, still entrepreneurship.
The difference is that technopreneurship is either involved in
delivering an innovative hi-tech product (e.g. Intel) or makes use
of hi-tech in an innovative way to deliver its product to the
consumer (e.g. eBay), or both (e.g. most pharmaceutical
companies). Innovations are not confined to tangible products
but also include services and processes

DEFINITION OF TECHNOLOGICAL
INNOVATION
Technology is the application of tools, materials, processes, and
techniques to human activity.
1. Information Technology
2. Biological-based Technology
3. Mechanically-based Technology
The use of technology is more prevalent in some industries than
in others.

IMPORTANCE OF TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY

• Technology strategy has to deal much more with issues of

uncertainty than general business strategy because
technological change is highly uncertain. A very small portion
of new technology ideas result in new products or processes.

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• Technology strategy involves the use of intellectual property
management to capture financial returns to a much greater
degree than general business strategy.
• Technology strategy involves the creation of new products
and services that are sometimes new to the world,
which demand different mechanisms for assessing market
needs and designing products than is the case with general
business strategy.

• Technological change occurs in ways that influence the design

of effective strategies, and create business dynamics that are
different from those that exist when new technology is
important.
• Organizations faced with a great deal of technical change
need to be structured, manage human resources, and design
business models in ways that are different from organizations
that are not faced with technical change.

• Making decisions about technology projects requires the use of

different decision- making tools than is the case with non-
technology projects.
• Technological change opens up opportunities for new, high
growth businesses in ways not possible in other settings.

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• High-technology businesses face many strategic issues,
like standards and increasing returns that are much rarer with
low technology businesses.