Friday, November 16, 2018

57. Guild of Entrepreneurs, 15 November 2018


I was pleased to receive an invitation to attend the Guild of Entrepreneurs annual lecture held at St Lawrence Jewry straight after the Big Curry Lunch Launch. The timing of the former meant I had little time for the drinks reception beforehand, arriving just as proceedings commenced.

The Guild has been in existence since 2014 and are very active. They are an aspirant Livery Company and will in time join the 110 other companies in the City. Their lecture was entitled “Does a formal education maketh the entrepreneur?” or more succinctly – are entrepreneurs born or made?! To answer this conundrum a panel of six experts discussed the various aspects of the make-up of an entrepreneur, each drawing from their own experiences in business. And they were wide and varied but fascinating nonetheless. The audience too had plenty to say and the whole evening was expertly hosted and managed by Jon Hammond, himself an experienced businessman and advisor.

Needless to say, the answer to the question was not straightforward and binary and the consensus was that it takes a range of skills to be successful (and fail!) but that nature, not nurture had a slight lead. But everyone acknowledged that entrepreneurship alone was not enough; a good back-up team was vital!

So a very interesting debate, followed by some sandwiches. My thanks to the Master and his Wardens – and to the panel – for an excellent evening.

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