No? Or just not again?
On Monday, we released the results of our Q3 Vistage CEO Confidence Index. Various media reported the newsworthy information: no impending double dip recession; 57% of Vistage CEOs expect their healthcare costs to rise more than 10% in 2011; and two-thirds of these CEOs believe not extending the Bush tax cuts beyond 2010 would be bad for their business.
However, I was particularly struck by something else. We asked Vistage CEOs if they would start a business today. Fifty-three percent of them said they would not. Only 42% said that they would. That’s surprising, even troubling.
Consider this: These are the very same folks who not too many years back did start up businesses. Today, most of these businesses produce somewhere between $5 million and $50 million in revenue (some are even larger). These CEOs have built very successful companies. And yet if they had to do it all over again, they would not start a business today. Given the love affair we’ve always had in this country with entrepreneurship, innovation and risk-taking, that more than half of our CEOs said they would not do it today makes me wonder why not.
Have conditions changed so drastically that their entrepreneurial spirit has been squelched? Or would they just not want to do it over again? I hope it’s the latter. It would be a great shame and a huge loss for our country if aspiring entrepreneurs did not pursue their dreams with the same level of passion as their predecessors. Our future depends on a robust and confident entrepreneurial spirit. It always has; it always will.
Category: Innovation Leadership
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About the Author: Rafael Pastor
Since 2004, Rafael Pastor has been Chairman & CEO of Vistage International, the world's leading chief executive membership organization. Established in 1957, headquartered near San Diego, and dedicated to executive deve…
If you think about it, most people in the survey started business around 20-30 years ago I suspect. Things are drastically different today. The US is perceived as not being the dominate player it once was, the financial turbulence seems perpetual as the business cycle frequency gets shorter and more volatile and the barriers to business are higher than ever, not to mention the new media and what that means.
So I think these results are not too surprising. But there are young and energized entrepreneurs out there ready to revitalize us, who understand this new landscape and were not interviewed. Fresh blood is a good thing. Lets pray we have enough to go around and they find Vistage.
I agree. However, in observing Obama and Congress- who are working to eliminate the drivers in our economy- I wonder if what you say (hope) is true. In the Internet space there is that hope but in no other space.
Good point.
If you think about it, most people in the survey started business around 20-30 years ago I suspect. Things are drastically different today. The US is perceived as not being the dominate player it once was, the financial turbulence seems perpetual as the business cycle frequency gets shorter and more volatile and the barriers to business are higher than ever, not to mention the new media and what that means.
So I think these results are not too surprising. But there are young and energized entrepreneurs out there ready to revitalize us, who understand this new landscape and were not interviewed. Fresh blood is a good thing. Lets pray we have enough to go around and they find Vistage.
I agree. However, in observing Obama and Congress- who are working to eliminate the drivers in our economy- I wonder if what you say (hope) is true. In the Internet space there is that hope but in no other space.
Good point.
How can this be anything other than expected? Obama and Congress are establishing fundamental changes which are devolving our capitalist economy. In comparison, this year will be noted as prosperous. Are you speaking out on this subject?
How can this be anything other than expected? Obama and Congress are establishing fundamental changes which are devolving our capitalist economy. In comparison, this year will be noted as prosperous. Are you speaking out on this subject?
Excellent insight. This issue deserves more research and thought. Being an entrepreneur is what has driven the great successes of American business and has enabled this country to earn financial success that is unparalleled in world economies. Certainly one would expect the current economic environment to impact one’s willingness to risk a start-up; but America seems thrive when the business environment says stay away. The risk-takers have thoroughly understood the issues and proceeded because their perspective was to understand the risk as well as the reward. Have our entrepreneurs decided the risk is too great? I hope not. Because the rewards are even greater in a negative environment.
Excellent insight. This issue deserves more research and thought. Being an entrepreneur is what has driven the great successes of American business and has enabled this country to earn financial success that is unparalleled in world economies. Certainly one would expect the current economic environment to impact one’s willingness to risk a start-up; but America seems thrive when the business environment says stay away. The risk-takers have thoroughly understood the issues and proceeded because their perspective was to understand the risk as well as the reward. Have our entrepreneurs decided the risk is too great? I hope not. Because the rewards are even greater in a negative environment.