UNIT 1

Introduction to Technology
Entrepreneurship
 What is technological
entrepreneurship?

• It is simply entrepreneurship in a
technology-intensive context
• It is a process of merging technology
prowess and entrepreneurial talent
and skills

Technology + Entrepreneurship = Technopreneurship

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 The technological
entrepreneurship continuum
P
M
R
Discovery A
O
Invention
R
D
K
U
Innovation E
C
T
T Entrepreneurship
S
S

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Who is the technopreneur?

• A person who destroys the existing economic

order (creative destruction) by introducing new
products and services, by creating new forms of
organizations and by exploiting new raw materials
(Schumpeter, 1934)
• Someone who perceives an opportunity and
creates an organization to pursue it.

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Who is the technopreneur?
• A person who undertakes risks (by creating an
enterprise or business) that has the chance of
profit (or success). Technopreneurs
distinguishes themselves through their ability
to accumulate and manage knowledge, as well as
their ability to mobilize resources to achieve a
specified business or social goal (Kuemmerle,
2002)

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 Who is the technopreneur?

• The technopreneur is a bold, imaginative deviator

from established business methods and practices
who constantly seeks the opportunity to
commercialize new products, technologies,
processes, and arrangements (Baumol, 2002)

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Who is the technopreneur?

• The technopreneur distinguishes logic from

tradition, tradition from prejudice, prejudice
from common sense and common sense from
nonsense while integrating a variety of ideas from
diverse groups and disciplines (Manuel Cereijo,
2002)

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Who is the technopreneur?
• Technopreneurs are skilled in applied creativity,
thrive in response to challenge, and look for
unconventional solutions. They experience
challenges, create visions for solutions, build
stories that explain their visions, and then act to
be part of the solution. They forge new paths and
risk failure, but persistently seek success (Dorf
and Byers, 2005).

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 What is entrepreneurship?
• A way of thinking and acting that is opportunity
obsessed, holistic in approach and leadership
balanced for the purpose of wealth creation
(Babson’s definition)
• Entrepreneurship is creative destruction. Dynamic
disequilibrium brought on by the innovating
entrepreneur, rather than equilibrium and
optimization, is the norm of a healthy economy and
the central reality of economic theory and practice
(Schumpeter, 1934)

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What is entrepreneurship?
• The entrepreneur searches for change, responds
to it, and exploits it as an opportunity. Innovation
is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means
by which they exploit change as an opportunity
for a different business or a different service
(Drucker, 1985)
• Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity
without regard to the resources currently under
one’s control (Stevenson)

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What is entrepreneurship?
• Creating the “New” and destroying the
“Old”
– New knowledge
– New products
– New processes
– New services
– New markets
– New business models
– New raw materials

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Entrepreneurial process vs.
Technopreneurial process
• Entrepreneurial process
Opportunity Analysis

Business Planning

Gathering Resources

Implementation

Scaling and Harvesting

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 Entrepreneurial process vs.
Technopreneurial process
• Technopreneurial process
Idea Generation

Idea Screening

Concept Testing

Business Analysis

Prototyping

Test Marketing

Commercialization
Monitoring &
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 Technopreneur and the
Economy
• Technopreneurs as agents of
economic growth

Natural capital ECONOMY Beneficial outputs

(Maximized)
Entrepreneurs
Financial capital Undesired waste
as agents of
progress Outputs
Intellectual capital (Minimized)

Increase Safety

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 Technopreneur and the
Economy
• Three elements of the intellectual capital
– Human capital
• The skills, capabilities, and knowledge of the
firm’s people.
– Organizational capital
• The patents, technologies, processes,
databases and networks
– Social capital
• The quality of the relationships with
customers, suppliers and partners
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 Technopreneur and the
Economy
Relationship between
Economic Growth
intellectual and
entrepreneurial
capital towards
entrepreneurial
activity and economic
Entrepreneurial Activity
growth

I Intellectual Capital + Entrepreneurial Capital

i

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 Entrepreneurs vs. Technopreneurs
(Differences)
Entrepreneur
• Likes to compete
• Is a self-starter
• Is able to do many things at
once
• Is creative, and has dreams
and goals
• Likes to work for him or
herself and be in control
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Technopreneur
• Likes to innovate
• Is part of a team
• Is able to do many things at
once, but chooses to
delegate
• Is innovative and has a
greater vision
• Likes to be the one to
control innovation and be
part of an evolution
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 Entrepreneurs vs. Technopreneurs
(Differences)
Entrepreneur
• Is motivated by a strong
desire to achieve and attain
financial success
• Focuses his/her attention on
the chances of success rather
than the possibility of failure
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Technopreneur
• Is motivated by a strong
vision and his passion to
innovate
• Takes failure in stride and
knows it will lead to
success if correction can
be made
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 Entrepreneurs vs. Technopreneurs
(Similarities)
Entrepreneur
• Is able to determine risk and
has the courage to take risks
• Is independent and self-
confident, yet knows where to
get help
• Likes a challenge
• Hardworking and willing to
stick with a project
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Technopreneur
• Is able to determine risk
and has the courage to
take risks
• Is independent and self-
confident, yet knows
where to get help
• Likes a challenge
• Hardworking and willing to
stick with a project
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Entrepreneurs vs. Technopreneurs
(Similarities)
Entrepreneur
• Is not easily discouraged
• Maintains good health, has
lots of energy and can
handle stress
• Has a strong sense of self-
worth
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Technopreneur
• Is not easily discouraged
• Maintains good health, has
lots of energy and can
handle stress
• Has a strong sense of self-
worth
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 Entrepreneurs vs. Technopreneurs
(Similarities)

Entrepreneur
• Is a positive thinker who
does dwell on setbacks
• Often has a close friend or
relative who owns a business
Technopreneur
• Is a positive thinker who
does dwell on setbacks
• Often has a close friend
or relative who owns a
business

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 Successful traits of
technopreneur
• Integrity
• Leadership
• Impatient: bias toward
action (with analysis)
• Quick clock speed
• Modest ego. Seeks and
accepts coaching
• Willing to be different,
but knows it (not oblivious)
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• Pragmatic: willing to
compromise
• Rejoices in other’s
victories
• Driven to solve a valuable
problem for customers
• Strong entrepreneurial
intensity
• Willingness to incur the
costs of growth
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 Successful traits of
technopreneur
• Willingness to use wide
range of financing sources
• Emphasis on a team-based
organizing structure
• Focus on innovation
• Committed to
commercialization of
technology discovery
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• Excellent communication
skills
• Understand the value of
business principles
– Formation and
execution of a
sound business plan
– Raising of money
– Building an
organizational team
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 Factors leading to
entrepreneurial success
• Ability to initiate and operate a purposeful
enterprise
• Ability to operate within the context and
industrial environment at the time of initiation
• Ability to identify and screen timely
opportunities
• Ability to accumulate and manage knowledge
and technology

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 Factors leading to
entrepreneurial success
• Ability to mobilize resources – financial, physical,
and human
• Ability to assess and mitigate uncertainty and risk
associated with the initiation of the enterprise
• Ability to provide an innovative contribution that
encompasses novelty and originality
• Ability to encourage a collaborative team of people
who have the capabilities and knowledge necessary
for success

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 Summary
• Technopreneurship is a process through which individuals
and teams bring together the necessary resources to exploit
opportunities and in doing so create wealth, social benefits
and prosperity.
• The role of technopreneur as agent of economic growth.
• The technopreneur must know how to use knowledge to
create innovation and new firms.
• The level of economic prosperity of a nation is determined
by the level of entrepreneurial activity which flows from a
combination of entrepreneurial capital and intellectual
capital.

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