Two Types of Entrepreneurs and Why You Should Be Both

Entrepreneurs are motivated by a variety of factors. Some are driven by money, others by fulfillment; others simply can't imagine working for someone else. Some are simply addicted to the excitement, while fame motivates others.

In my experience, we can divide entrepreneurial motivations into two prototypes sitting on opposite ends of a spectrum: the rational entrepreneur versus the romantic entrepreneur. In reality of course, each entrepreneur is a mix of these two prototypes, and like many things in life, the secret is moderation. Successful entrepreneurship, in my opinion, is a healthy blend of romanticism and practicality.

Two Entrepreneurial Prototypes

Rational entrepreneurs are motivated by their will to outsmart the "system." The extreme among them love Excel sheets, numbers and figures. They are knowledgeable of market trends and the competition landscape almost to the point of obsession. They try to predict the future and plan as much as possible – all in order to minimize risk. Entrepreneurs who are too analytical, however tend to get cold feet and are paralyzed when the numbers don't add up. Cold, hard analysis 100% of the time doesn't leave any room for romance – it puts the brake on creativity and impulsivity.

In contrast, romantic entrepreneurs are motivated by their passion. They have an overwhelming desire to create something that solves a particular problem. Die-hard romantic entrepreneurs don't research anything – not the market, nor the competition. They don't have a business plan, a financial plan or any type of plan, frankly. Their excitement impedes their ability to see reality. Extremely romantic entrepreneurs are therefore prone to mistakes and solving problems that aren’t a true pain point.  

A Romantic Entrepreneur's Messianic Zeal

I'd like to give you a real-life example of my romantic tendencies and my willingness to do whatever it took for my company to succeed.

Our first customer was a chain of seven supermarkets that sold organic food. Our job was to mine their customer data and derive meaningful insight. Excited and highly motivated, we asked for the set of data we needed. It turned out their Point of Sale (POS) provider would not allow access to the raw data. They offered to pass the data along – but only in exchange for completion of a high-cost development project. We were blocked!

We weren't able to complete the project because the customer didn't agree to pay the price. Most companies and people would have given up at this point because this was actually a true stumbling block. They would search for another customer, with free access to its data. I, in contrast, was filled with messianic zeal. I demanded that the POS provider find another way of retrieving the data. I told them I had no problem doing grunt work.

The POS provider explained to me that every store had one computer which contained raw data files that needed to be decoded, yet contained all of the necessary data. He provided us with instructions of how to decode the files, and I traveled personally to each one of the seven stores, saving the files on a flash drive.

Why was I so stubborn and unwilling to give up on this customer?

The answer is that my passion and drive brought out my more romantic entrepreneur inclinations.

As a side note, I’d add that this was my first entrepreneurial experience. Being young and inexperienced contributes greatly to being romantic. With time, experience reduced some of my romanticism.

Creating the Right Entrepreneurial Blend

Although I was young and more romantic at the time, I did demonstrate some good rational instincts as well. For example, even though my thesis was on Supply-Chain management, I knew that creating a product in that field wasn't practical. Developing a successful product in the field of machine learning and data analysis, however, was feasible. When I met my future partner, a PhD candidate in machine learning, I was excited. I knew that it was a hot field, and even better – I knew that this was where my strengths lie.

If I had taken the time to research and analyze the different types of software in machine learning, however, I would have been too scared to do anything.

Since we were young and reckless, though, we immediately started to work with customers, showing them what data we could give them and what predictions we could make for them. Those years working closely with customers in different sectors gave us a deep understanding of retention marketing and contributed highly to our product success. We started as a service provider, and after realizing a service business is not as scalable as a software business, we shifted to a SaaS-based product. The ability to acquire the knowledge from working with customers as well as our strategic shift to SaaS were outcomes of our rational instincts.  

We wouldn't have ever gotten to that point however, without running headfirst into the fire, so to speak. Our romantic inclinations were a bit stronger, but we were able to balance it with the right amount of practicality.

At the end of the day, a lot of factors contribute to the end success or failure of a company. In my opinion, however, the right combination of romanticism and rationality is a critical factor for entrepreneurial success.