52 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
in the same way that we consider other resources. What entrepreneurial traits make a
person rare, valuable, imperfectly imitable, and nonsubstitutable?
Are there personality characteristics that help us predict who will be an entrepreneur
and who will not? Some believe that the drive for entrepreneurship is an inherent part
of a person’s personality. For example, the inventor of kitty litter, the late Edward Lowe,
called the inventive and entrepreneurial spirit beagleism. He didn’t believe someone
could go to school to be an entrepreneur, or simply decide to become one out of the
blue. Lowe believed that becoming an entrepreneur was as natural to a person as chas-
ing a rabbit is to a beagle.^45
Street Story 2.3 tells of one such beagle—Jeff Fluhr, founder of Stubhub, Inc. Fluhr
showed entrepreneurial promise early, but not until he dropped out of Stanford
University did he create his best venture. Does he have a key personality trait that is
responsible for his success, or does his marshaling of resources and capabilities prove
decisive?
Who will be a successful entrepreneur and who will not? Over the past few decades,
entrepreneurial research has identified a number of personality characteristics that differ-
entiate entrepreneurs from others.^46 Among the most frequently discussed are the need
for achievement, locus of control, and risk-taking propensity.The Need for Achievement. The entrepreneurial need for achievement, or n Ach, was
first identified as a personality trait by McClelland in his work on economic develop-
ment.^47 People with high levels of n Ach have a strong desire to solve problems on their
own, enjoy setting goals and achieving them through their own efforts, and like re-
ceiving feedback on how they are doing. They are moderate risk takers.
However, the link between n Ach and entrepreneurship has not always held up in
empirical testing. Researchers who have attempted to replicate McClelland’s findings or
apply them in other settings have occasionally been disappointed. For example, n Ach is
a weak predictor of a person’s tendency to start a business, and people specially trained
to have high n Ach sometimes perform no differently than a control group that receives
no training. The causal link between n Ach and small business ownership has not been
proven.^48Locus of Control. A second trait often associated with entrepreneurship islocus of
control.^49 In locus-of-control theory, there are two types of people: (1) externals, those
who believe that what happens to them is a result of fate, chance, luck, or forces beyond
their control; and (2) internals, those who believe that for the most part the future is
theirs to control through their own efforts. Clearly, people who undertake a new busi-
ness must believe that their personal efforts will have something to do with the business’
future performance.
This theory suggests that internals are more entrepreneurial than externals. Evidence
supporting this hypothesis, though, has been inconclusive.^50 Some studies have shown
that more internals are entrepreneurs, but others show no difference between entrepre-
neurs and other people. In fact, we can argue that any good manager must also possess
the qualities of an internal, that is, must be a person who believes that efforts affect out-