Case Study:
God Bless-Krystal
When I hear the word "predator", I generally think of a lion. Lions have intelligence, strength, and take on things vastly larger than themselves. With that being said, while reading Michael Gladwell's argument that entrepreneurs are predators, I had to agree. However, I did not always agree with his definition.
Gladwell boldly states that the entrepreneurs that are the most successful are generally not risk takers, and that those who are risk takers have generally failed. While recognizing that this trend can be seen in some of the most successful entrepreneurs, I prefer his statement that "the risk-taking model suggests that the entrepreneur's chief advantage is one of temperament--he's braver than the rest of us are whereas in the predator model, the advantage is analytical--he's better at figuring out a sure thing than the rest of us are". Although these two models were meant to show the difference in what a predator really is, they instead support one another. It's true that Ted Turner and John Paulson got ahead in the game by taking minuscule risks, but isn't it also true that they were brave enough to jump at easy opportunities that, if for some odd reason did not go as planned, could have cost them a large sum of money? These two men figured out the strategy to a successful business before others, and were brave enough to implement that seemingly flawless strategy in a otherwise known "dog-eat-dog" field.
This leads me back to my lion reference. Although the term predator generally has a negative connotation, I look at it as meaning powerful. Like a lion, Turner and Paulson were intelligent enough to learn the strategy behind making deals that would boast their businesses and make them wealthy men; strong enough to stick to their strategies and outlast other failing business; and took on opportunities that, at the time of creating their businesses, seemed out of reach and much larger than themselves. Entrepreneurs can be described as predators, but in the sense that they are powerful people that are able to think outside of the box in order to get what they want to achieve.
Please review the document enclosed here:
Attachment:- The sure thing.rar