Not Everyone Should Be an Entrepreneur. Good Mentors Know This

"Entrepreneurship has become one of the most glamorized career paths of our time. Everyone wants to be a founder, chasing freedom, fortune and a sense of identity. Far too often, aspiring entrepreneurs hear the same recycled encouragement: Go for it. Bet on yourself. You'll figure it out. But after decades leading large organizations, turning around businesses and mentoring startup founders, I've come to believe something that may be unfashionable, but essential in my view: Not everyone should be an entrepreneur."

"However, entrepreneurship isn't freedom. It's full accountability. It means making decisions with limited information. It means showing up when no one's watching. If you struggle with structure in a corporate environment, entrepreneurship doesn't remove that pressure. It increases it."

"I spend a lot of time with founders and aspiring entrepreneurs. These are students, early-stage teams and ambitious professionals. What I've noticed is this: people want support, but they often resist structure. Encouragement is easy. Standards are not."

Entrepreneurship is heavily glamorized as a path to freedom and fortune, but this perception is fundamentally misleading. True entrepreneurship demands complete accountability with no safety net, requiring founders to make decisions with limited information and maintain discipline without external oversight. Those who struggle with structure in corporate environments will face intensified pressure as entrepreneurs, not relief. Effective mentorship requires establishing genuine standards and identifying red flags that indicate poor entrepreneurial fit, such as flaky commitments and inconsistent follow-through. Rather than universally encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs, responsible mentors must honestly assess whether individuals possess the necessary temperament and discipline for this demanding path.

Read at Entrepreneur