#69—Derek Lidow: The Historical and Modern Role of Entrepreneurs in Society

Derek Lidow is unique in having successful careers as CEO of a global publicly traded semiconductor company, a founder and CEO of an innovative and valuable startup, and now as a teacher and scholar of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Derek is a professor of the practice at the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education at Princeton University. He is the author of Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas Into Successful Enterprises , Building on Bedrock: What Sam Walton, Walt Disney, and Other Great Self-Made Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Building Valuable Companies, and THE ENTREPRENEURS: The Relentless Quest for Value, as well as more than a hundred articles on innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership.

Lidow graduated summa cum laude from Princeton and received a PhD from Stanford as a Hertz Foundation Fellow.

In this podcast, he shares:

• What it really takes to be a successful entrepreneur—and the history of these individuals
• What people often get wrong when they think about entrepreneurship
• Lessons for you to apply to become a successful entrepreneur
• The positive and unexpected negative consequences of entrepreneurship in society

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-Derek Lidow

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Episode Timeline:

00:00—Introducing Derek + The topic of today’s episode

2:23—If you really know me, you know that...

2:54—What is your definition of strategy?

3:29—What is your definition of entrepreneurship?

5:14—Could you talk about the history of corporations and their structures, and how entrepreneurs fit into that?

7:01—How were business people like the Elon Musks and Jeff Bezos perceived 4,000 years ago, and who were they?

8:15—What would the world look like without entrepreneurs within the business mix?

9:39—What are the less desirable impacts of entrepreneurs?

11:51—How do we incentivize entrepreneurs to lean toward positive endeavors?

14:14—Do you believe there is a shift toward entrepreneurs being focused on societal problems rather than self-interest focuses?

15:44—What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur (qualities, characteristics, etc.)?

17:16—What is something you'd like to share we haven't covered?

17:58—How can people continue to learn from you and follow you?

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Additional Resources:

Personal Page: https://dereklidow.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dereklidow

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DerekLidow

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/derek.lidow1

Thank you to our guests, thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.

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