A Very Short Interview With An Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship is a mindset, a way of life, a pursuit, acquired through experience. Before you go too far down the road of collecting your own experiences on the way to becoming an entrepreneur, it's a good idea to check in with someone who already is an entrepreneur and who has been one for a long time (say, 10+ years). This person can give you a "heads' up" on what's coming your way and what you should expect as you go down the entrepreneurial path. Talking with an experienced entrepreneur can also give you a different perspective on this course, than what you're picking up from me or from your fellow students or even from your own perceptions. 

In short, interviewing an experienced entrepreneur can help provide you with important context. You aren't the first person to travel this road -- so there's no reason for you to "go it alone." 

For this exercise, you need to find an entrepreneur with at least a decade of experience at running their own business (private, public, non-profit -- it's all fair game). This entrepreneur SHOULD NOT be related to you, but it IS OK if you have worked with them in the past. 

In the spirit of this assignment title, let's keep this interview very short. Only ask 3 questions, and record the entrepreneurs' responses to those questions. For the post in your blog, you may either post the video of the interview, or you may type out your questions and their answers. 

The sorts of questions you might like to ask can involve what you might encounter on this journey. 

• What should my expectations be in this course?
• What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?
• What do you think I should learn in an entrepreneurship course?
• What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur? 

Two additional reqirements: First, be sure to describe who the entrepreneur is and what makes them an entrepreneur. Second, at the end of the post, write a short paragraph of your own reflection on what you learned (or what surprised you) during the interview.

Lastly, there are two important things to keep in mind:

1) You'll be coming back to interview this person at the end of the semester (Week 14), so be sure you inform them of that and even schedule a time to meet with them again. 

2) Please include the phrase "Very Short Interview No. 1" in your title and "Week 3" in the label.

Once you have proofread this post -- and, of course, published it -- please be sure to complete the Declaration below. 

Text for the declaration below:

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: 

I have interviewed an entrepreneur with 10 or more years of experience. 

I have published a post of the interview to my blog, including either the transcript of the interview or a video recording of the interview.

I have described who the entrepreneur is in my post.

I have written my own reflection on the interview. 

I have included the phrase "Very Short Interview No. 1" in the title, and I have labeled the post "Week 3."