Should you be an entrepreneur or investor? If you’re interested in technology, do you go the high-risk route of starting a company, or do you take up a career in Venture Capital? It’s a problem that many people struggle with after leaving University, or a career that they have lost interest in.
Over the past decade, in two separate industries – property and technology – I started as an investor, then quickly realised that it did not match my character or personality and so moved into entrepreneurship in that sector. I enjoy two parts of investing – the social aspect of meeting many interesting and highly motivated people, and the learning aspect of being able to gain such amazing knowledge from the journeys and successes of other entrepreneurs. The thought of building capital through investing, however, is nowhere near as exciting as doing so through a company you have built and grown yourself.
In this video interview from the Technology Ventures Conference 2012, at Cambridge University, I had the privilege of asking David S. Rose – serial entrepreneur, super angel investor, Founder and CEO of Gust, Managing Principal of Rose Tech Ventures and Associate Founder of Singularity University – what his thoughts were about making the decision between being an entrepreneur and investor. His advice is fantastic – watch the clip to hear it, and to get inspired by David’s passion and energy. But basically, if you’re an entrepreneur, you simply don’t have a choice about it, you have an intrinsic, uncontrollable need to go out and start a company. It makes sense – that’s how I’ve ended up starting 6 operating businesses by the age of 28..
Now I have another question. How do you stop starting companies?
Ivan Mazour
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And watch Ivan Mazour's TEDx Talk - "Why we shouldn't be scared of sharing our personal data".