Characteristics of the Entrepreneur:
The authors wish to thank the Kauffman Foundation’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Inc. for providing financial support to help us write this chapter.
More than a dozen founders of successful companies received awards at the 1997 "Northern California Entrepreneurs of the Year" banquet. The first was given to Margot Fraser, president and founder of Birkenstock Footprint Sandals, which is now in its third decade as the exclusive U.S. distributor of Birkenstock footwear. Fraser was lauded for her persistence and good business sense, which were portrayed as key causes of her firm’s success. In an emotional acceptance speech, Fraser protested that she didn’t deserve the award alone, rather it would be shared with her employees, and that her firm’s success would have been impossible without so much support from her supplier in Germany and her family.
The last and most prestigious award for "Master Entrepreneur" was given to Dado Banatao, co-founder of several successful start-ups including Chips and Technologies and S3, and current chairman of five high technology companies. Like the other winners, Mr. Banatao was recognized for his personal qualities, including a competitive spirit, love of taking calculated risks, and technical knowledge. As in nearly all the other acceptance speeches, Mr. Banatao claimed that he was given too much individual credit, and that he was just one of many people who enabled these start-ups to succeed. He emphasized that this success stemmed not just from him, but from a group of close friends and associates who understood one another’s strengths and how to combine them to launch a start-up.
