We’re being told to “embrace knowledge & risk”

Prof. Martin Curley has got together with some other eminent economists and has written a book called “Knowledge-Driven Entrepreneurship – The Key to Social and Economic Transformation”. The core argument (I think. I’ve only read the press coverage), is that the quickest way to improve society (and by implication get out of this financial mess) is to concentrate on the knowledge economy. Professor Curley says that the west has lost the ability to innovate and take risks.

Risks are manageable if you’re a large corporate, but it’s a huge ask if you’re a start-up. Start-ups need capital and for most of us in Ireland that means the banks.  If you do somehow manage to get approval for a loan or overdraft, they’re routinely requiring personal guarantees before handing over the cash. For small fry that means that if your business fails in a big way you could end up bankrupt and lose everything and be on the sidelines for 12 years.  With risks like that is it any wonder that young knowledge workers aren’t willing to try the entrepreneurship route?

In the USA you can be in and out of Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy in a year and get back on the horse. As importantly, your core family assets (house, car and household goods) are safe. While never to be entered into lightly, it’s almost regarded as a right of passage for the entrepreneur in training.

Banks need to get fair in their business lending and government needs to put a proper structure in place to manage the failures in a humane way if they want to see a real culture of entrepreneurship grow in Ireland.