Entrepreneur

The planning businessman cannot help employing data concerning the unknown future; he deals with future prices and future costs of production.

Human Action, p. 225; p. 224

The entrepreneurs . . . are not infallible and often blunder. But they are less liable to error, and blunder less than other people do.

Planning for Freedom, p. 114

A technological invention is not something material. It is the product of a mental process, of reasoning and conceiving new ideas. The tools and machines may be called material, but the operation of the mind which created them is certainly spiritual.

Theory and History, p. 109

The only source from which an entrepreneur’s profits stem is his ability to anticipate better than other people the future demand of the consumers.

Human Action, p. 288; p. 290

The task of the entrepreneur is to select from the multitude of technologically feasible projects those which will satisfy the most urgent of the not yet satisfied needs of the public.

Planning for Freedom, p. 117

What distinguishes the successful entrepreneur and promoter from other people is precisely the fact that he does not let himself be guided by what was and is, but arranges his affairs on the ground of his opinion about the future. He sees the past and the present as other people do; but he judges the future in a different way.

Human Action, p. 582; p. 585

No dullness and clumsiness on the part of the masses can stop the pioneers of improvement. There is no need for them to win the approval of inert people beforehand. They are free to embark upon their projects even if everyone else laughs at them.

Human Action, p. 859; p. 863

In order to succeed in business a man does not need a degree from a school of business administration. These schools train the subalterns for routine jobs. They certainly do not train entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur cannot be trained. A man becomes an entrepreneur by seizing an opportunity and filling the gap. No special education is required for such a display of keen judgment, foresight, and energy.

Human Action, p. 311, p. 314