Entrepreneur versus founder.
At least up to my generation, the USA is associated with phrases like "the land of unlimited opportunity" or "from dishwasher to millionaire". Anyone could live the American Dream if they wanted to and worked hard enough. The term for people who follow this dream is entrepreneur (which actually comes from French) and is positive right from the start, much more so than our term founder - or even worse, "existence founder" (help! It is about my existence, which already sounds threatening).
Wikipedia says: "Entrepreneurship is more than starting a business and using resources efficiently; it includes creative elements such as identifying (market) opportunities, finding new (business) ideas and implementing them in the form of new business models." That sounds good, motivating and makes sense. I think it describes the most important step for all entrepreneurs/founders: the creative element in ideation and in developing the business model. This step is crucial for short-term and especially long-term success of a start-up, regardless of the size of the planned venture or the founding team.
But every start-up needs support: different, individual, tailor-made. If you use Google to find information about starting a business, you land on the well-known offers of private service providers (legal forms, tax advice, social insurance tips, business plan and financing) - and, of course, hundreds of trendy books on how it will definitely work.
But there is more: something overarching, something that strengthens founders in their step. Do you find that in your circle of friends and acquaintances? Maybe. But I believe the admiration there is often more for the courage of the founder than for the idea - including the usual advice that follows: "Think about it again carefully." No surprise: our parents' generation (and many who came later) still believe that once you are employed by a company (maybe even where you did your apprenticeship), good leadership means you have found a safe second "home" until retirement. Great - that helps.
Can founders hope for support from the representative of the public, our state and its organizations? The institutions created for this, such as the founder service (https://www.gruenderservice.at/startseite.wk), are clearly trying. No question. But do they manage to shape an entrepreneurial culture and generate moral, almost psychological support? I will leave that question to everyone. But then what?
For all founders who are comfortable with English, I would like to recommend the following link (https://www.whitehouse.gov/economy/business/startup-america). Bravo Obama: the American Dream 2.0 is online. You, Mr. President, probably did not come up with the idea yourself - but you are (hopefully still for a while) the best testimonial for the American Dream. I believe you.
And what about Austria? Yes, Mr. President Fischer, you already had something like a "Fisherman's tube" online (https://www.bundespraesident.at/nc/aktivitaeten/videogalerie/).
