What Exactly Is A Serial Entrepreneur?

Serial entrepreneur definition

The image of a serial entrepreneur is someone who seems to have dozens of amazing, well thought ideas destined to change the world, as enforced by billionaire idols such as Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Oprah Winfrey. But what is a serial entrepreneur really? Are you one? Well, listen to this episode of the Startup Streams Serial Entrepreneur Podcast to find out…

What is the difference between an entrepreneur and a serial entrepreneur?

As quoted by Scott Adams, “In business, making a million dollars is a goal, but being a serial entrepreneur is a system.”

But what really is the difference between a serial entrepreneur vs an entrepreneur? In a nutshell, a serial entrepreneur is an individual who runs more than one business at a time - or multiple times throughout their career. Entrepreneur is singular, where as serial entrepreneur is plural. But whilst running more than one business can have its advantages, it isn’t for everyone. It requires a skillset of organisation and management which even the most experienced business owners may find hard to possess. This is why many top entrepreneurs remain entrepreneurs and never pass the threshold towards serial entrepreneurship. 

First of all, it’s worth mentioning that entrepreneurship is one the rise. In fact in 2021, 5.4 million new businesses were registered in the US, up from 4.4 million the year before. It’s never been so easy to start a business online after all. At least, we at startupstreams.com have helped to reduce the barriers to entrepreneurship by selling pre-made, ready-to-grow businesses to new entrepreneurs looking to start their first business, and equally, serial entrepreneurs looking to startup their next business.

Serial entrepreneur or serial starter?

To help us to categorise further into the serial entrepreneur meaning, I think that it is also worth mentioning that a lot of serial entrepreneurs could instead be categorised as serial starters. Meaning, some people don’t like the idea of running the same business for more than 5-10 years, so wish to get it to a an exit as soon as possible, then do it all over again with their next big idea. 

It's not just about great ideas

However, it isn’t just about great ideas. It may seem that the poster boys and girls for serial entrepreneurship know something we don’t? They seem to be able to come up with so many disruptive ideas. And whilst this may be true, you may find that it’s their execution, rather than the idea, which leads to their success. I will cover serial entrepreneur characteristics in more depth in a future podcast, so it will be worth subscribing to this Startup Streams Serial Entrepreneur Podcast on your favourite podcast platform to be notified of new podcast releases. 

A serial entrepreneur is very quick to create 

To help our serial entrepreneur definition, it is important to note in this podcast that it is worth identifying that serial entrepreneurs tend to be very quick to create. They have an idea and run with it. Serial entrepreneurs are quick and efficient at building teams and systems. The ideal serial entrepreneur tends to be one who starts a new business then a few years later, sells it on for a hefty profit or hires a management team to take over from them.