TEDxSalford

The Art of Entrepreneurship

 Capital always follows ideas, always has, always will do

I’m sure most of you will have watched, or at least heard of the BBC television show The Apprentice- the show in which Lord Sugar

hires & fires (more of the latter!) in order to find his ideal candidate for the much coveted six-figure salary job. The word ‘entrepreneur’ and ‘entrepreneurship’ are often bandied about during the show, in fact Lord Sugar is an entrepreneur who transformed himself from a teenager who sold television aerials from the back of a van, to one of the richest men in the UK . Entrepreneurs have many characteristics, however, one that is common to all is the capacity to take big risks. In the current economic climate, risk taking isn’t on everyone’s agenda – so when Julie Meyer took the stage and emphasised the importance of backing entrepreneurs, she was going against the grain and forced us to challenge our perceptions. What followed was a an intriguing talk on how we should rethink our relationship with technology, the connections between economics and technology, the omnipresence of software and the paradigm shift in the relationship between big business and the ‘new kids on the block’- the reason why David and Goliath must dance.

Boom and Bust

Julie talked about the the work of , a Venezuelan academic, who is famed for her concept of , a theory based on how so-called ‘disruptive technologies’ can dictate the development of technology for a period in excess of half a century. The microprocessor is a great example of a disruptive technology; just imagine a world without the microprocessor- no computer, not a Smartphone, no Playstation…the list is endless…

Obviously such disruptive technologies don’t take hold straight away, as Perez explains, the first couple of decades is where the technology incubates before finally having enough financial backing, from the established industries of the time, to stand on its own two feet. The latter part of this cycle is when the technology branches out, gains its own momentum, before finally beating the established players at their own game. Perez supports her theory by using examples of disruptive technologies from history and how they ushered in periods of exponential technological advancement – all owing to the one piece of disruptive technology.

So how does this link in with Julie’s call to back entrepreneurs? Simply put, if we don’t support entrepreneurs, we might miss out on what could be the next world changing disruptive technology.