Type of entrepreneur – the all 6 archetypes
The word entrepreneur can describe a person who is creative and driven and who succeeds in starting a business/company. Or more likely – An entrepreneur creates a firm (enterprise) to realize their idea.
An enterprise can be a business, but not all businesses are considered enterprises. This due to Enterprise also refers to the risk-taking ability and the initiative undertaken by an individual.
- An enterprise is usually a venture that reflects an initiative or high risk-taking ability of an entrepreneur. In EPT we refer to this more as change-talking abillity.
Entrepreneurs can change directions on things, create, and design new approaches. Other ways to try to describe them are words like high autonomy, anti-conformity, and action-oriented, taking responsibility in combination with visionary thinking.
Positive attitude towards work and devotion – well, the list can be made long..
The suggestion is that entrepreneurs have different characteristics that help them succeed in their tasks. Within the research about entrepreneurship that has been done, and based on international research, entrepreneurs have different characteristics and that had identified five profiles.
After Stefan Lindstrom´s (founder of the test) time in 2005 at the Boston University School of Management – Entrepreneurial Institute, and around the Boston ecosystem, it was observations he made there that were the starting point in his research. Later in the years around 2007, Lindstrom came up with his first thoughts, and later on, the first embryo that there could be a sixth one, -The workstyle! The swede whose research found the 6th entrepreneurial archetype (researchgate.net) And this the 6th archetype that he had the privilege of later launching at The International Conference on Thinking in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in 2009. ICOT The International Conference on Thinking
It is this research that led to the world’s first Entrepreneur Profile Test that was launched in 2010.
The EPT test – also tries to describe entrepreneurship and the differences among the all 6 archetypes but still that they have a lot in common. – One of many many things that all these archetypes have in common is – thanks to perhaps the most clear-sighted view of all personality types, Entrepreneurs are uniquely skilled at detecting small changes. It can be a change in facial expression, a new style of clothing, or a change in habits. Entrepreneurs note hidden thoughts and motives where most other personality types would consider themselves happy if they noticed something special at all. Entrepreneurs use these observations. More on this in How To Use Yore Results.
The all 6 archetypes
In brief, this research has come up to that entrepreneurs can be distinguished into six different types, or roles.
We have chosen to distinguish them as archetypes. The EPT test archetypes specifically focus on the types of behavioral traits that affect people’s preferences for work, how they think and how they work. Dictionary – Archetype
The Starter – Intuitive, creative and great initiators, skills as caught the spur of the moment,,
The Professional – Good planners, tend to like the efficiency, holistic orientated,,,
The Serial – Flexible, can often combined feelings & analytical skills when making decisions,,,
The Innovator – Innovative, detail orientated skills, ability to act on their impulses,,,
The Lifestyle – Effective, holistic and often customer orientated businesses,,,
The Workstyle – Emotions as well as mentally driven, the work itself provides the incentives,,
The Starter – This is a type of entrepreneur who can be best described as obsessed with the creative process.
He/she starts companies with good intentions, builds it up, and gets bored quickly.
The person is rarely still; he/she likes to take the leap and is often first with new ideas.
If they complement themselves with any of the other archetypes, they more often succeed in getting their team through the first rounds. These first rounds determine the ultimate survival. Once the business is up and running the way it was intended, the starter archetypes may begin to lose interest.
This type of entrepreneur is often not always able to finish things and can therefore sometimes find it, or end up challenging to make money on the idea of the company. The Starter may, for example, imagine or consider selling ‘’half the building’’ (as you can see in the illustration of the Starter) and instead start a new one. Furthermore, quick to generate enthusiasm among those around them and to sell their idea, or as it more often is likely to be – ideas !
– these are the general pictures of this archetype. Your own profile answer is, therefore, more comprehensive than these texts. I.e., if your profile turns out to become The Starter.
As a personality profile, this archetype can be described as a person with a strong sense of the task in relation to the logical analysis. This person sees the substance of a process, and therefore the initialization of an idea…
For a fully adequate profile including both a personality profile, and an entrepreneurial profile one has to do the test.
The Professional – This entrepreneurial archetype is often very long-term orientated and is usually a long-term thinker, (compared to the other 5 archetypes)
The company that the Professional archetype build shall survive as long as themselves.
He/she wants to start a fast-growing business and stay in it for life. They may also along their way acquire companies that ‘the Starter archetype or ‘the Innovator archetype has previously started and created, and merge a grow that way.
The so-called ‘’Pro” archetype undergoes all the phases of entrepreneurship, and this means that the enterprise will develop all phases, that is from starting, to profitability, and to the administrative phases related to scaling the venture.
This archetype includes a person with all-around ability and often is both stubborn or persistent, as well as strategic in their thinking.
This is a complex archetype that possesses versatility and the ability to develop themselves to cope with all the different phases that emerge along the way. This also includes daring to hire others who are more competent than themselves. The Professional archetype can often build and devote all of their life to their enterprise.
– these are the general pictures of this archetype. Your own profile answer is, therefore, more comprehensive than these texts. I.e., if your profile turns out to become The Professional.
As a personality profile, this archetype can in some cases be described as a person who balances a strong sense of the task with the ability to see its long-term usefulness to the business…
For a fully adequate profile including both a personality profile, and an entrepreneurial profile one has to do the test.
The Serial – This is an entrepreneur type who wants to both “have and eat the cake’’. This includes a mixture of the Starter and the Professional entrepreneurial types. He/she often builds up a traditional company with a goal that it be sold to another entrepreneur or a larger company later on. If not, they can come up with ideas like expanding the firm’s geographic or product scope.
Money that a serial entrepreneur earns is often therefore used to build a new company that replaces the previous one. In this way, this type of entrepreneur sells the ‘’cake’’ but still has some left at the end of the day. Have your cake and eat it too
Sometimes they can also start a “chain company” or so-called franchise as a business model.
Therefore, the name serial is adequate.
– these are the general pictures of this archetype. your own profile answer is, therefore, more comprehensive than these texts. I.e., if your profile turns out to become The Serial.
As a personality profile, this archetype can often be described as a person who has a strong ability to see the big picture in the processes…
For a fully adequate profile including both a personality profile, and an entrepreneurial profile one has to do the test.
The Innovator – This type of entrepreneur is one that may not always work alone. She or he has the invention to guide their activity. They often feel or have a gut feeling (this is also what will become their biggest motivator initially), that they do not really fit well in the large organization and sometimes, therefore, work towards starting a business out of frustration, – not infrequently with others who share the same interests. For the Innovator archetypes, freedom and fortune-seeking are often common denominators.
These entrepreneurial archetypes are most often found in sectors such as IT, Telecom, Biotech, and Green technology.
They usually possess significant technological knowledge but may need at their side someone with financial acumen as well as someone with a customer focus to make the venture succeed commercially.
The Innovator entrepreneur often finds new ideas or products along the way. Moreover, their ventures are often acquired and refined over time.
– these are the general pictures of this archetype. Your own profile answer is, therefore, more comprehensive than these texts. I.e., if your profile turns out to become The Innovator.
As a personality profile, this archetype can be described as a person who is primarily controlled by emotions, basically a ‘’trigger’’ in behavior…
For a fully adequate profile including both a personality profile, and an entrepreneurial profile one has to do the test.
The Lifestyle – Is an entrepreneur who creates the company itself for its own sake; this is in order to obtain and maintain a particular lifestyle.
This type of archetype operates or runs mostly companies with a limited number of employees, high margins, and a strong focus on sales.
The Lifestyle entrepreneur’s priority is often minimizing risk rather than investing in risky projects. His/her ventures often maintain a solid credit rating because there are rarely any cash flow problems.
The archetype is different from the other 5 entrepreneurial profiles in respect of the company, exists for the entrepreneur, and not vice versa. That may limit the company’s growth. This archetype builds the business for their own personal planning, and the group or a team is sometimes of secondary importance. Which is understandable due to, operates mostly companies with a limited number of employees
The Lifestyle entrepreneur will often measure the business as well and its results in economic terms, combined with a tendency to plan their activities.
This entrepreneur has a tendency to run their businesses with a customer-oriented focus !
For this type of entrepreneur financial success can be a strong driving force.
– these are the general pictures of this archetype. Your own profile answer is, therefore, more comprehensive than these texts. I.e., if your profile turns out to become The Lifestyle.
As a personality profile, this archetype can most often be described as a person who sees entrepreneurship from an overall perspective, this fills the basic needs of the entrepreneur through life.
For a fully adequate profile including both a personality profile, and an entrepreneurial profile one has to do the test.
The Workstyle –
This is an entrepreneur who is the antithesis of the Lifestyle archetype.
The Workstyle archetype also enjoys life, but not outside of work, as much as through it. This is because the job itself is so interesting. The job or more adequately – the profession itself becomes the driving force.
One could say their profession in itself is the driving force itself.
The money, or earnings, therefore, plays a smaller role since the profession is so exciting within itself and therefore acts as a great motivator. An extra high degree of autonomy may consequently also occur.
Furthermore, the archetype quite often has invented something new or developed a unique process or the like.
The Workstyle archetype often runs companies with no or few (usually 1-4) employees, and a lower focus (interest) on sales itself is quite common. Low margins can therefore become a challenge for the enterprise. This might be compensated with their competitive drive.
Furthermore, the entrepreneur quite often invented something new or developed a unique process or such. They often use their intuition when developing new ideas, this due to mentioned above -employment itself is the driving force.
They can initially in some eyes, first appear as so-called “mavericks” or a lone wolf but they, the Workstyle archetypes see themselves as -individualistic! This may be due to that they can appear as both as more Extroverted (E) as well as more Introverted (I).
Even Ambivert, which was shown late in our research and is, or can be seen as an asset for this archetype. Ambivert is something that the Workstyle sometimes shares with the Professional archetypes.
The Workstyle archetype may have few areas of interest and therefore find it easier to focus on certain parts of the process or areas of interest or pure curiosity than to always look at the big picture.
This in itself provides the conditions for easily becoming a specialist in the field or industry they have chosen.
– these are the general pictures of this archetype. Your own profile answer is, therefore, more comprehensive than these texts. I.e., if your profile turns out to become The Workstyle.
As a personality profile, this archetype can be described as a person who usually gets satisfaction from the stimulus at work.
The work within itself provides the basic incentive for existence. This archetype can combine both thought and emotion, but emotions are the most central.
For a fully adequate profile including both a personality profile, and an entrepreneurial profile one has to do the test.
One of many many things that all these archetypes have in common is – thanks to perhaps the most clear-sighted view of all personality types, Entrepreneurs are uniquely skilled at detecting small changes. It can be a change in facial expression, a new style of clothing or changed habits. Entrepreneurs note hidden thoughts and motives where most other personality types would consider themselves happy if they noticed something special at all. Entrepreneurs use these observations in their entrepreneurial journeys and ventures. More on this in How To Use Yore Results.
With best regards, and good luck with your personal further development and future successes.
More research within Entreprenology and behavioral science – very latest here below.
- Journal of Psychology and Neuroscience What Does Different Personality Test and Behavioral Test Measure? and Do We Overuse Them? (researchgate.net)
- Journal of Ageing Science & Mental Health Studies, Clarification of research study, ADHD does not provide special conditions for entrepreneurship (researchgate.net)
- Journal of Applied Psychiatry, Do Typical ADHD Traits Offer Advantages to Entrepreneur (PDF)
- Do Typical ADHD Traits Offer Advantages to Entrepreneurs ? or not (researchgate.net)
© 2010-2023 Stefan Lindström