The U.S. is failing at entrepreneurship. Three decades of steady decline.

The number of startups in the U.S. has dropped by more than half from 1977 to 2010.  Startup propaganda says one thing.  Statistics say something much more troubling.

The Los Angeles Times recently published a good piece:  A drop in startups: In search of risk-takers

There is a big ongoing drop in startups in the U.S.  Sadly - stupidly - true.

However, there is a sharp rise in the role of entrepreneurship in our global societies.

My take is that the risk-taking part is a dumb way to describe the process.

I think effective entrepreneurship is about minimizing risk not increasing it.

This does not mean avoiding risk.  Just the opposite.  You minimize the risk first.  You experiment to find what's making you fragile.  Then you throw those pieces out.

You sift.  You winnow.  Then you get down to one model that you put your chips on.  Risk-taking?  Sure.  Smart, distilled risk?   Hopefully.

###

"Failing entrepreneurship is bad for the economy.  It means fewer jobs being created and a reduction in innovation that is essential to economic growth and rising living standards."


A drop in startups: In search of risk-takers   Los Angeles Times.  Written by Walter Hamilton

Photo is from Governor Nelson State Park, WI.  Summer 2014.