AMD 2313

Productive Entrepreneurship

Business activities that create genuine economic value, innovate, and contribute positively to societal welfare.

Unproductive Entrepreneurship

Activities that exploit loopholes or engage in rent-seeking to redistribute wealth to oneself without creating new value for society.

Destructive Entrepreneurship

Illegal or unethical business practices that actively damage the economy, exploit resources, or hurt society.

Innovation

Birthing the new—introducing novel products, services, processes, or business models to the market.

Jobs

Economic development generated by young firms (under 5 years old) driving net new job creation.

Wealth

Generating net new capital and resources that elevate living standards across society.

Weak Ties

Relationships with casual acquaintances that act as bridges to unique, non-redundant information and new opportunities.

Discovery

The phase where an entrepreneur identifies an unmet market need or an opportunity to introduce new products/services.

Evaluation

Assessing whether an opportunity is actually feasible, desirable, and financially viable before committing major resources.

Exploitation

Taking concrete actions to execute the opportunity—securing funding, hiring talent, building the product, and launching.

Survival Ventures

Low-growth, hand-to-mouth businesses run reactively to provide basic daily income for the owner.

Lifestyle Ventures

Small businesses funded by family/friends that target slow growth (<5%) to provide a stable, comfortable lifestyle for the founder.

Managed Growth Ventures

Professionalized regional businesses aiming for moderate, controlled growth (10–15%) over a multi-year horizon.

Aggressive Growth Ventures

High-stakes, high-potential 'gazelles' seeking rapid exponential growth (>20%) backed by private equity or VC funding.

Commodity Trap

A situation where a product/service becomes so standardized that customers view all competitors as identical, forcing businesses to compete strictly on low prices and destroying margins.

Crossing the Chasm

The difficult transition a growth startup must make between serving early tech adopters and scaling up to capture the mainstream pragmatic market.

Social Entrepreneurship

Launching a business primarily focused on solving social, cultural, or environmental issues while remaining financially sustainable.

Commercial Entrepreneurship

Launching a venture primarily focused on financial profitability and shareholder returns.

Gender Entrepreneurship

Examining the unique structural, financial, and cultural barriers faced by women founders.

Immigrant Entrepreneurship

Ventures started by immigrants who leverage cross-cultural knowledge, dual networks, and resilience to establish businesses in new countries.

Indigenous Entrepreneurship

Business ventures created by and for Indigenous communities that leverage cultural traditions, land, and local collective resources.

Socioemotional Wealth

Non-financial values that family owners derive from their business, such as family pride and social status.

Nepotism

Favoring family members over qualified external candidates for job roles or promotions regardless of merit.

Resistance to Succession Planning

The hesitation or refusal of founding owners to draft a clear handover plan due to fear of losing control.

Corporate Entrepreneurship

Introducing brand-new products or services inside an existing enterprise.

Corporate Venturing

Creating an entirely new semi-autonomous business unit or subsidiary from within a parent firm.

Strategic Renewal

A complete, structural repositioning of an organization's core business strategy and market identity.

5 Enablers

Key internal workplace conditions required to foster innovation (e.g., Management Support, Work Discretion/Autonomy).

Born Globals

Companies designed from inception to operate internationally right away.

Gradual Internationalizers

Businesses that scale locally first, then expand step-by-step into geographically or culturally close foreign countries.

Born-Again Globals

Established domestic firms that suddenly pivot into rapid internationalization following a critical event.

C.A.G.E. Distance Framework

The four dimensions of distance that create barriers to international success: Cultural, Administrative, Geographic, and Economic.

Technology Entrepreneurship

Creating ventures around radical scientific discoveries or complex engineering inventions.

Digital Entrepreneurship

Creating ventures whose operations, products, or services exist primarily on digital media or software platforms.

Technology Life Cycle

The stages a breakthrough technology goes through, including Emergence, Growth, Maturity, and Decline.

Internal Growth Strategies

Scaling the business organically using internal capabilities (e.g., expanding product lines).

External Growth Strategies

Scaling rapidly by merging with, acquiring, or forming strategic alliances/joint ventures with other companies.