It was November 1957, outside Plainfield, Wisconsin, when the
police arrested Ed Gein. Inside his kitchen was a bountiful meal of
pork chops; macaroni and cheese; pickles; coffee; cookies--and,
simmering in a saucepan on the stove, a human heart.
Inside his house, the police made other grisly
discoveries--including a box of noses, skulls on the posts of his
bed and a headless corpse. The only room that appeared normal, save
for the coat of dust, was that of Gein's long-dead mother. If
any of this rings a bell, it's because Gein was the real-life
inspiration for Robert Bloch's novel, Psycho, which
became one of Alfred Hitchcock's film masterpieces.
America has long had a gruesome sense of humor, so maybe
that's why "serial entrepreneur," a riff off serial
killer, is the term often used to describe entrepreneurs who own
multiple companies in their lifetimes. It's hardly a crime, but
there does seem to be a growing number of entrepreneurs who stalk a
trend, create a business from it and then, when it's
flourishing, kill it (by selling or dissolving). Some serial
entrepreneurs can't get rid of their company--it's their
baby--but they want a growing family, so they hire managers to run
the daily operations while they give birth to a new business.
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Either way, serial entrepreneurs exist because they need a new
challenge with every venture, says Andrew Zacharakis, an assistant
professor at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, which
boasts one of the finest entrepreneurial departments in the
country. To be a serial entrepreneur, says Zacharakis, "You
need to have incredible passion for the start-up process and for
the industry your start-up is in, and incredible energy--all the
attributes you'd normally associate with excellent
entrepreneurs."
But serial entrepreneurship has its dark side. "You have to
give up control of a venture that's been your baby and see
somebody else take it over," warns Zacharakis. Ominous
background music, please. "They may make decisions you
don't agree with. The real downside is seeing others destroy
something you bled over and tried to transform from a baby into a
beautiful child."
Of course, you may just sell your infant corporation for $5
million. Or $50 mil. And you just might get over that downside.
Geoff Williams is a serial Entrepreneur writer, having
written numerous articles for this magazine, and has written
for Life and Ladies Home Journal. He's also a
features reporter for The Cincinnati Post.
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