
Why Introverts Make Great Entrepreneurs - shahryc
http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-introverts-make-great-entrepreneurs-1440381699?mod=e2fb
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smt88
This is an article full of anecdotes, but most of the anecdotes are wrong.

Steve Wozniak isn't an entrepreneur. He's an inventor. Steve Jobs was the
entrepreneur and convinced Woz to do things his way (i.e. the way that ended
up working).

Marissa Mayer is not an entrepreneur, and she's not even a good CEO. I'd argue
she's an absolutely abysmal CEO.

Warren Buffett is certainly not an introvert if you've ever seen him speak,
and his history also suggests he's not an introvert. He was a door-to-door
salesman as a young man.

It's just ridiculous to say that being introverted is a benefit in
entrepreneurship. Starting a company is more about people and relationships
than almost any other task in life, and it's _much_ easier when it's something
you enjoy and can do naturally.

~~~
hhandoko
You sounded very defensive. I think the article is just trying to clear up
some misconceptions on what people typically think of Introverts, and the
notion that only Extroverts make successful Entrepreneurs. Instead, both
Introverts and Extroverts have something to bring to the table.

When I first started on my current role, we were required to undertake a five-
day leadership `bootcamp`. It's meant for superintendents (i.e. team leaders),
in which the primary objective is to identify our own communication / working
styles and recognising others.

This was done through various tests (e.g. Myer-Briggs) and team exercises. The
whole week is spent to prepare us to manage our team and work effectively in a
team with people from various backgrounds.

A good explanation that was given during the bootcamp, was that Extroverts
draw their energy from their surroundings (external), e.g. feedback from other
people, whilst Introverts draw it internally.

Introverts can be very sociable and `work the room` just like Extroverts, it's
just that it takes more effort for them as compared to extroverts.

TL,DR; There is a misconception of what Introverts and Extroverts are.
Introversion vs Extroversion are simply traits and not mutually exclusive.

~~~
marincounty
I didn't read it either, but I can honestly state the one communality I've
seen in all successful Entrepreneurs, and it's never pointed out in these cute
stories.

It is this; having a wealthy father. We are force feed these stories about
what it takes to become wealthy, or become entrepreneurs, but when I dig deep,
there's always a wealthy family member who helped at just the right time.
Usually that family member helped out in ways other ways, on top of free
money. They offered things--like really good advice, family lawyer, family
accountant, family friends/connections, free place to start a business, etc.

If you happen to be that modern day Horatio alger, I tip my hat to you. The
rest of us used credit card money, and usually had just one shot to make it
big.

~~~
hhandoko
I agree with you, just not on the money part though. I think family background
and connections plays a more significant role in determining success.

------
thegeomaster
The problem with this line of thinking is that, like most other things,
introversion/extroversion is not binary; it's a spectrum. The Myers-Briggs
type indicator (considered as borderline pseudoscience by many) places me, for
instance, in the introvert camp, but the tests suggest that I'm only 6% into
it, which makes things way less clear-cut than one would be inclined to
believe. Relying on it being a strictly binary identificator opens up the
possibility for all types of these interesting speculations and
categorizarions, but they all break down when you realize the complexity of
human psyche very resiliently defies them. An introvert who can effectively
pretend and act like an extrovert (which is a skill like any other) can be a
better entrepreneur than an extrovert who doesn't know how to use their
extroverted tendentions for this particular use-case. I'm not contending that
the article is completely false, but the overall conclusion is too exclusive
ane definitive to be applicable to humans at large. People with the skills
that define entrepreneurs are good entrepreneurs; their other characteristics
may help them or not, but no effective conclusions can be drawn from such a
narrow point of view as the one presented in the article.

------
insanebits
In my oppinion there is truth to it, big part of top management positions are
filled with extraverted people because they are most likely to speak before
everyone else. While introverted people like to take their time to think about
it.

Like the article said, introverted people are better leading self-motivated
employees who don't need a lot of direction. Which means he has more time to
focus on the things that matter.

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jkot
Is there some study with correlations etc?

I think until recently introverts needed extroverts to run the business, raise
money etc. But today cost to run business is pretty low and it is no longer
case. All we need today to start decent business is a laptop and bit of
savings.

Today Tesla could probably stay at home (or tropical island), run his business
from Austria, manufacture parts in China and find customers all around the
world. No need for Edison.

~~~
mattlutze
(FYI, Tesla is owned/run by Elon Musk; the company doesn't share his name.)

~~~
nitrogen
Given the mention of Edison, I think the parent was referring to Nikola Tesla.

~~~
mattlutze
Whoops, thanks y'all.

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mkagenius
I am not saying introverts can't make great entrepreneurs but lot of the
characteristics can be of anybody - introvert, mildly introvert, mildly
extrovert, or extrovert.

Generalisation when there is no need - that's what the article is about.

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callum85
> Introverts, whom experts say comprise about a third of the population...

Stuff like this implies it's clear-cut. But I don't even know whether I'm an
introvert or an extravert. I strongly identify with traits at both ends of
this supposed spectrum. And I don't see myself as someone who 'swings' between
the two, nor do I see my traits as conflicting. I just don't identify with
this spectrum at all. And I can't confidently place other people on it either.
It feels willfully vague and pseudosciencey to me.

~~~
nbrempel
I agree that it seems pretty vague but they do mention that the majority of
the population are Ambiverts – a third personality type.

~~~
callum85
Well that feels like a cop-out if the majority are "a bit of both" :)

I see a bunch of personality traits that are roughly groupable into "quiet"
and "loud" traits, that's all. I'm struggling to find anything concrete or
useful in the theory.

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dominotw
When are we going to stop with these dumb introvert/extrovert labels.
Irrelevant labels from another era.

------
tewarbit
An interesting/semi-related question comes to mind - do the majority of
comments on HN come from people who fall on the more extrovert side of the
spectrum, or introvert side?

~~~
smt88
Judging by upvotes/downvotes, I believe there are more extroverts. It's hard
to tell for sure. Maybe you should do a poll?

\- "I'm an extrovert and actively comment"

\- "I'm an extrovert and do not actively comment"

\- "I'm an introvert and actively comment"

\- "I'm an introvert and do not actively comment"

~~~
tewarbit
> Judging by upvotes/downvotes, I believe there are more extroverts.

That would be my guess as well since introverts "Usually only speak when they
have something to say, after they've had a chance to process information
internally" (from the article). I think its interesting to frame the
discussion on HN differently based on whether its mostly extroverts or
interoverts participating.

------
Sealy
Anyone else think its ironic that Mark Zuckerberg is on the list of
introverts? Facebook by design favours extroverts more, those who talk about
themselves and feel comfortable sharing about their lives.

~~~
rue
Doing so online is less taxing than in person, so I don’t think it’s ironic at
all.

------
known
You need Cash/Caste to succeed as an Entrepreneur in India;
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_in_Hinduism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_in_Hinduism)

