
Why do people call themselves entrepreneurs? - jason_shah
http://blog.jasonshah.org/post/34036099028/why-do-people-call-themselves-entrepreneurs
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charleshaanel
I get frustrated when people call themselves "entrepreneurs" but have taken
limited risks or made limited sacrifices. Come to me when you have literally
had to make the moral decision between paying yourself more vs. hiring someone
else, giving an employee a bonus vs. buying yourself some shiny things (your
right to do so, but there's a societal impact for boh during a recession with
people out of work) - the list goes on. In particular there's also the kind of
strength of a character that "real" entrepreneurs have to have when dealing
with the isolation of living in a world filled with blue pill poppers when
entrepreneurs have swallowed on the jagged red pill of reality probably from
the time they could walk.

I also get frustrated with people who spend VC money in a wanton fashion yet
don't risk a dime of their own yet call themselves "entrepreneurs". Nej, you
are a "wantrepreneur"...

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dsandrowitz
I think a lot of it has to do with a sense that they need to use this title in
order to gain legitimacy in the startup community. I met lots of people
calling themselves entrepreneurs who have never started a business and I meet
lots of people who call themselves founders of entities that don't require
anything more than an organizer. It is all because saying you are a consultant
or a financial analyst or a marketing coordinator is not sexy or interesting.
Instead of figuring out what they want to be and working towards it, they
dress themselves up with a title and act the part. I know there is this whole
fake-it-til-you-make-it thing, but sometimes it is all just bullshit.

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jason_shah
Insecurity and legitimacy is all I could come up with in my first pass. Anyone
else have ideas on why everyone wants to call themselves entrepreneurs these
days?

Maybe there's nothing wrong with it, but it seems like an annoying
misappropriation.

