58 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
between military and civilian life, between student life and a career, and between prison
and freedom.Positive Pull
Positive influences also lead to the decision to investigate entrepreneurship; these are
called positive pull influences. They can come from a potential partner, a mentor, a par-
ent, an investor, or a customer. The potential partner encourages the individual by
sharing his or her experience, helping with the work, and spreading the risk. The men-
tor raises self-esteem and confidence. Mentors and partners can also introduce the entre-
preneur to people who are inside the social and economic network for new venture
activity.^63 There also appears to be a relationship between a parent’s occupation and off-
spring entrepreneurship: Many entrepreneurs have a strong self-employed father figure
in the family.^64 Investors who provide the initial financing may convince the individual
that “there may be more where that came from.” The prospect of a potential customer
pulling the entrepreneur into business raises some difficult ethical and economic issues.^65
However, having a guaranteed market for products or services is a temptation few can
resist.Positive Push
The final category of situations that provide impetus and momentum for entrepre-
neurship is positive push. Positive-push factors include such things as a career path that
offers entrepreneurial opportunities or an education that gives the individual the appro-
priate knowledge and opportunity.
What types of career choices can people make that put them in a good position to
become entrepreneurs? Two types of career paths can lead to entrepreneurship. The first
is the industry path. A person prepares for a job or career in a particular industry and
learns everything there is to know about that industry. Because all industries change over
time, entrepreneurial opportunities that exploit that change come and go. A person with
a deep knowledge of an industry is in an excellent position to develop a business that
fills a niche or gap created by industry change.
People taking the industry path to new venture creation view specialized knowledge as
their key resource. That knowledge may be embodied in particular people, a technology,
or a system or process. The new firm may be a head-to-head competitor, it may serve a
new niche not served by the former employer, or it may be an upstream firm (a suppli-
er) or a downstream firm (a distributor or retailer). Whatever its functional form, a spin-
off is a knowledge-based business; its primary resources are its competencies, experi-
ences, networks, and contacts.^66 The challenge for these people is to procure the other
resources, financial and physical, that will enable them to make their plan a reality.
A different approach, the sentry path, emphasizes money and “the deal.” People with
careers in sentry positions see many different opportunities in many different industries.
They tend to be lawyers, accountants, consultants, bankers (especially business loan offi-
cers), and brokers. These people learn how to make deals and find money. They have
contacts that enable them to raise money quickly when the right property comes along.
The challenge for these people, because they are experts in the “art of the deal” and not
part of any particular industry, is to locate and retain good managers.