Entrepreneurs vs. Artists
Is there a difference?
I’ll admit, I’ve never thought about this question before today.
I’m a big fan of Seth Godin and his content frequently gives me ‘aha’ moments. I listened to him talk earlier today in a brilliant podcast with Krista Tippett. His comments resonated strongly for me…
“Sometimes when people think of art they think of Van Gogh.
…we can all agree that Beethoven was an artist and that Shakespeare was an artist.
…it’s not that hard to extend it to… yea, well, so was Steve Jobs. When he did things he was doing them with the right intent, for the first time, in a way that had an impact.
…then I can expand this to… anyone who has put an iPhone app into the World that changes the way we interact with each other or the device.
It’s easy to keep track of what art is by what it’s not…
It’s not… following a manual, reading a dummies book, looking for a map. It tends to be people that work with a compass instead, who have an understanding of true north, and are willing to solve a problem in an interesting way.”
I’m not an art critic or indeed an artist but I do spend a lot of time with technology entrepreneurs at the earliest stages. I see them as they struggle to create new things that will find an audience and hopefully change the World.
I’ve always thought of entrepreneurs as ‘creators’ and the act of entrepreneurship itself as a ‘craft’. I love the fact that Seth takes this idea a stage further and defines the type of entrepreneurship that he considers to be an art form:
- Creating things with the right intent
- For the first time
- And in a way that has a real impact
And I also love his description of the people that achieve this:
- Not following a manual (= rebel)
- Working with a compass to find their true north (= purpose)
- Solve problems in an interesting way (= creative visionary)
Whether you agree that this is art or not, I think we can all agree that it takes creative and visionary rebels, working with real purpose, to build long-lasting and World changing companies.
You can find the full interview between Seth Godin and Krista on the On Being podcast – here.
