I first read about 'ideapreneurialism' after reading a blog post from Olivia Salon (Deputy Editor of wired.com.uk) where, basically, she slammed the term. She was commenting on the 'ideapreneur' professional development stream of School of Communication Arts 2.0.
However, the term stuck with me as I think this is what I do. I am not an entrepreneur in the more traditional sense of the term - defined as a "person who organises and operates a business or business, taking on greater than normal risks in order to do so."
Unlike an entrepreneur, an ideapreneur will not take another's idea and replicate or refine it. Rather an ideapreneur is focused on new and novel ideas that generate transformational change.
From a quick search of the web, I identified some of the following descriptions of what it means to be an ideapreneur.
Ideapreneur (n)
- A person that comes up with original ideas to deliver business or social value, and then realises the value of those ideas.
- A person that comes up with new or novel ideas that evoke change, disrupt the status-quo, or impact an industry in ways that have not been done before.
- A person that pushes boundaries, goes to the edge, creates change, challenges tradition, and delivers business and social value in ways not previously imagined.
- A person with the vision, skill and persistence to #makeawesomehappen.
An ideapreneur is inspired by an idea as much as the monetary gain, and wants to see their vision for that idea become reality.
Think Steve Jobs (Apple), Richard Branson (Virgin), Jack Dorsey (Twitter) or Arianna Huffington (Huffington Post) - these ideapreneurs did not realise game changing ideas by simply following others. Of course, I am not placing myself in the same league as these guys, but it is something to aspire too.
