Florence, Max and Jeremy are three young entrepreneurs from Brussels. They came to Sarpsborg to present their experience in Eyecone. Through their very different personal paths, they explained the difference between entrepreneur, intrapreneur and expert, as well as the pros and cons of each model.
The premise of the workshop was to discuss what are the options for young talented people starting in the business world. Those are moments of uncertainty, and young entrepreneurs often find themselves struggling to identify what is right for them and their future career.
At the workshop, the Summer Academy participants were introduced to a concept that most of them had never heard of before: Intrapreneurship. It is the practice of entrepreneurship in an established firm. Intrapreneurship applies the ‘start up’ style of management (characterized by flexibility, innovation, and risk taking) to a secure and stable firm. The objective is to fast track product development (by circumventing the bureaucracy) to take advantage of a new opportunity or to assess feasibility of a new process or design.
This concept sparkled a lively debate and many of the participants thought it was a very interesting option to combine the best of two worlds.
The conversation then moved into the World of Work and how culture conditions the attitude of a society towards entrepreneurship. Scandinavian participants mentioned the famous Law of Jante to explain why their societies disregard personal attitudes that aim towards individual success. This can explain why, when talking about daring to fail when starting a business, some Norwegian and Swedish participants answered that most of them wouldn’t even dare to try in the first place.
The outcome of the workshop can be summed up in one word: Inspiration! Participants were encouraged to overcome their fear of failing, and valorize people who try (even if they fail). That is the way to foster an entrepreneurial attitude in our societies, where those who DREAM are supported to take the next step and start DOING. We assist to a shift in the World of Work; in the future, work will be divided in short-term projects, with talented people working together as a dream team on well defined deliverables. Once a project is accomplished, they evaluate their work together, and then move on to the next one. As a result, a flexible, challenging, cost-effective, millennial-adapted economy would emerge, supported by regions and local economic players.
