Week 2 Reading Reflection

1. While reading the first chapter, I was surprised at how technical entrepreneurship can be. I thought the book would be about starting a business and its aspects, like raising capital or growing a business. I was surprised that there were so many myths about entrepreneurs, and that that there were various schools of thought involved with entrepreneurial ventures. Overall, I was very surprised at all of the terms and definitions that are associated with entrepreneurs. Maybe I shouldn't be, considering this is a textbook on the subject, but it stuck me as surprising since I had always pictured entrepreneurs as these free spirits who took charge and did what they wanted to do. This is, of course, still what entrepreneurs, but reading a textbook about the history of entrepreneurship has changed my perspective.
2. One part of the reading that confused me was the schools of entrepreneurial thought. The 3 different schools (environmental, capital, and displacement) for the macro view seemed to have a smaller effect on the entrepreneur than the micro view (schools of venture opportunity and thought). I thought this because without the right ideas, opportunity, and wherewithal the entrepreneur would never be able to start their business. I was also confused about the schools in general, because they described categories in becoming an entrepreneur that I had not previously considered.
3. If I could ask the author two questions so far, they would be if the author him/herself had any entrepreneurial experience, and to ask for some clarification in describing the schools of thought. I would ask these questions so that I could see what point of view the author was writing the textbook from, and because the schools of thought concept had confused me, as I have discussed in the previous question.
4. I didn't agree with the section where the author clarifies the difference between small business owner and entrepreneur. A small business owner is still taking the same levels of risk and throwing themselves into the unknown in the hopes of being their own boss, making a difference and being successful. I think small business owners are entrepreneurs in their own right - perhaps on a smaller level, yet many still put enough "skin in the game" to earn the title of entrepreneur.