I was reading Mark Cuban over at Blog Maverick a few days ago and he was talking about how-Obama’s first big mistake was that he formed his economic advisory council and didn’t include any entrepreneurs.  His point was that America is great because of entrepreneurs, and leaving them off the council (whether accidentally or by design,) was a critical mistake.

I haven’t yet decided whether I agree with Mark or not.  Really, how do you define an entrepreneur?  He loosely defines them as people who “do start-ups.”  I think that’s a fair definition.  But then you get into sub-groups.  For example, Bill Gates started Microsoft in his garage.  Steve Jobs did the same with Apple.  I know people who have started 20 – 30 businesses (mostly failures.)  I know others who have started over 50 businesses, most of them successful.  So who is the archetypal entrepreneur?  Do Bill Gates and Steve jobs fairly represent what it means to be an entrepreneur in America?  Certainly they’ve been successful.  But are they out of touch with the little entrepreneur in your town?  Can they effectively speak in his or her behalf?  For sure you want to have a successful entrepreneur representing the rest, but what does that mean?  Is it measured in the number of successful businesses started (like my friend with the 50 businesses) or is it better measured by a person who’s only started a handful of businesses but has taken them global (not to mention into the fortune 500?)

I dont’ have the answer.  But one thing I know is certain: entrepreneurs by their definition (at least in my mind) are too independent in their thinking, in their processes, in their paradigms to be easily pigeon-holed into some narrow niche.  They are a diverse group of people, in thought, in action, in background, in race, in creed, in color, in religion, in financial terms, etc., etc., etc.  It is their very diversity that makes them successful.  Sure, there are some commonalities.  But I think it would be near impossible to find someone to speak for all of them based purely on their diversity.

What’s your opinion?