Entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs sound like they are exactly the same. Though they both live with the same pulse that is native to innovators, the former spurts out of one’s drive to capitalise on an untapped opportunity in the market, while the latter drives innovation and new ideas internally, within an organisation.

To help get a better picture of the roles taken on by these trailblazers, read on! 

You may even discover that you are configured to be exactly like one of the two, if not both.

What is an Intrapreneur?

From the Post-It note to the Sony PlayStation – these legendary products have all been the brainchild of inventive employees who were bursting with entrepreneurial energy and who’s organisations embraced intrapreneurial culture. This essentially forms the crux of what an intrapreneur is. 

To define the concept, an intrapreneur is an employee who is delegated an innovative project or comes up with a new idea independently to work on, within the safe realm of their existing organisation. This immediately takes away the risk that would otherwise be creeping up behind a traditional entrepreneur striving to reach the heights of success. But this does not come without a price. With lower risks as a benefit, intrapreneurs trade-off the outsized rewards that an entrepreneur may have the opportunity to reap.

While intrapreneurship gives ambitious employees the latitude to spread their wings and fly, it does so within the terms of the organisation, yielding the benefits of innovation and creativity within the company. All-in-all inculcating intrapreneurship into corporate culture creates a win-win situation for employees and the company that hosts them as well.

Examples of some successful intrapreneurs are:

• Justin Rosenstein, the inventor of the Facebook ‘Like’ button.
• Paul Buchheit, who’s intrapreneurial mind conceived Gmail by independently working on building the initial version of the tool.

What is an Entrepreneur?

On the contrary, an entrepreneur can be defined as an individual striving to satisfy his itch for creativity and innovation by starting a new venture. This is achieved by developing a business plan and aiming to kick it off with relatively limited resources. The entrepreneur does so while harbouring higher risks (like his/her financial security, career or capital), but also gaining higher rewards that come along with building an enterprise. The new business is founded on the basis of a unique product or service that doesn’t imitate an existing business model.

While entrepreneurship can be seen as risky, it gives entrepreneurs the autonomy to build what they believe in while also factoring in greater rewards that could significantly multiply profitability.

Examples of some successful entrepreneurs are:

• Whitney Wolfe, the founder of Bumble, a dating app created for women by women.
• Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the builders of the social media giant Instagram.

What are the Similarities between Intrapreneurs and Entrepreneurs?

While intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs are born out of completely different circumstances they both are driven by a mission to innovate. This is why there are some prominent similarities between the two like:

• Leadership
• Adaptability
• Intelligence 

Leadership

It goes without saying that to build anything revolutionary you need the leadership skills to inspire and guide your team so your idea can see the light of day in the form of a winning product, service or radical change in the company. Strong leadership thus, forms the essence of both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs.

Adaptability

Both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs will often fall back when unseen complexities and obstacles are hurled at them. But the one thing that will help them stand their ground is ‘resilience’. As the Oxford dictionary defines it, “the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape”. That’s exactly what these innovators need to have running in their blood, no matter how thorough or impeccable their plans and strategies may be.

Intelligence

Intelligence is another trait shared by intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs. To be able to effectively garner success, one must have the ability to identify and evaluate the opportunity that can be capitalized on, while also having the sensibility to know what tools and skills would be needed to effectively execute a project and reach a goal. By knowing how to combine business acumen with a strong passion is what makes intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs truly successful.

What are the Differences between an Intrapreneur and an Entrepreneur? 

If there are such strong similarities between the two, could they really be that different? Yes! 

Let’s explore 10 differentiating elements that make intrapreneurs and an entrepreneurs who they really are:

Why is Intrapreneurship a Skill Highly Demanded Today?

Now that you have a fair idea of what intrapreneurship entails and how it can be similar to entrepreneurship in some aspects, but yet so different in others, it’s worth exploring the hype behind the skill of ‘intrapreneurship’ that has been gaining momentum over the past few months.

Today, we live in a world that is on a path of continuous metamorphosis as reinstated by the COVID-19 pandemic, that has led to the acute need to create a climate for intrapreneurship in the business world. Growing a business in this shape-shifting world necessitates businesses to embrace innovation, entrepreneurial skills and problem-solving mindsets to allow for greater adaptability and resilience. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Michael Page, the recruitment giant, named ‘Intrapreneurship’ as the most desired skill of 2020. 

A shift in business priorities has given rise to corporates establishing intrapreneurship as the ‘norm’ to thrive and not just survive. This growing interest in intrapreneurship only accentuates the need for employees and potential job applicants to build intrapreneurial skills that will not only be their trump card to success in business, but will instill an entrepreneurial fire that will be impossible to extinguish. 

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Are you Ready to be an Intrapreneur?

Let us help you get there! With CFTE’s course “Launching Innovative Projects in Large Banks” made for intrapreneurs. You will get the latest knowledge in the field from serial intrapreneurs themselves! So what are you waiting for, kickstart your learning journey today.

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For current and future bankers, or anyone with an interest in the finance industry, the landscape is changing fast. The characteristics of an entrepreneur are becoming more relevant than ever in this field. Not everyone needs to be an entrepreneur, but everyone needs to have an entrepreneurial mindset.

This is essential whether you run your own business or innovate in a large organisation. Apart from streamlining processes, the entrepreneurial mindset can help your career progression. In short, this is the vision to strategise and execute in a faster, smarter and more flexible way. Instead of being tied down by protocol and best practices, vision often changes things for the better.

For example, adopting an entrepreneurial mindset means bankers may need to adjust their default mindset. Most will have experience of rigid processes that have not changed for decades, and will not see any reason to change. This can lead to complacency, which results in a lack of change or innovation – typical of many banks in today’s world. There needs to be an urgency to improve and experiment with new ideas. In turn, it will quickly isolate successful processes and tangible improvements while also highlighting inefficiencies.

Similarly, creativity and problem-solving are key skills that bankers will need to thrive as an entrepreneur. Although many organisations keep an eye for CVs that describe “out-of-the-box” thinkers, they often prefer individuals that they can mould to think and take their approach to dealing with problems. When it comes to innovation, limiting thinking and possibilities to a single funnel is a recipe for disaster.

We fully believe that bankers (or anyone for that matter!) can learn how to have an entrepreneurial mindset, and the CFTE Extrapreneurship Programme has been created to respond to this need. The programme allows professionals to experience entrepreneurship by working on a strategic issue of high growth startups (inaugural edition starting on 13 May 2019 with Revolut and Shift Technology).

To read more of our leading new Extrapreneurship programme, please click on the button below!

CFTE is the learning and innovation platform for individuals and organisations to act on the transformation of Finance. Learn how to get into Fintech, explore the exciting opportunities at Fintech startups, lead AI projects and develop your career.

CFTE develops leading online courses (Comparable to Harvard Fintech Course, Oxford Fintech programme and MIT Fintech certificate course), Experiential Learning Programmes such as Entrepreneur workshops and also animate a community of 1000 of alumni and experts.

Start with the foundations with our Fintech Foundations Programme and AI in Finance course.

Think and act like an Entrepreneur with our Extrapreneurship Programme.

Meet and get inspired at our Fintech ecosystem

About CFTE

We are a platform supported by senior leaders from the largest institutions, startups, and universities. We address the needs of professionals in finance to upskill in a rapidly changing industry being transformed by emerging technologies. More than 50,000 participants learn from our online courses, such as AI in Finance, Fintech Foundation or Extrapreneurship, a mini-MBA with fast-growing startups such as Revolut or Shift Technology.

Latest posts

• Extrapreneurship – The Future of Entrepreneurship in Fintech
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Next Events[MEC id=”3937″]

The post Can a Banker be an Entrepreneur? appeared first on CFTE.

With the world of finance rapidly changing and evolving, executives in the industry run the risk of being left behind as the brave new world of FinTech begins to take root. The CFTE Campus aims to upskill professionals to keep up with the times, regardless of current experience and expertise. Not only will this ensure they remain relevant in the future of finance, it will also benefit the FinTech community as the talent pool grows and develops along with the industry.

Apart from promoting FinTech education one of the key aims of the CFTE Campus is to grow the London FinTech ecosystem. Experts in various fields will share their insight and views at biweekly FinTech events held at Level39, making it the most vibrant community in Europe, and possibly the world!

This is a notion echoed by CFTE co-founder, Tram Anh Nguyen, who wants the campus to help finance professionals to “upskill themselves and also build a network with other FinTech leaders of today and tomorrow”. With its strategic location at Level39, the CFTE Campus is certainly well-placed to do just that.

Hosting over 200 startups and more than 1,200 entrepreneurs, Level39 is the perfect ecosystem for FinTech to rapidly develop and thrive, with its community having a golden opportunity to accelerate not only their learning, but impact on the world of finance. The London FinTech scene stands to benefit tremendously as the foundation has already been laid previously, paving the way for speedy growth and evolution that few cities around the world, if any, can match.

There is already a myriad of opportunities in FinTech in London; the introduction of the CFTE Campus only serves to increase this number. The only question is, will you be a part of it?

We’re in the news! Click here to read more!

Click here to read the full press release of the CFTE Campus launch.

CFTE is the learning and innovation platform for individuals and organisations to act on the transformation of Finance. Learn how to get into Fintech, explore the exciting opportunities at Fintech startups, lead AI projects and develop your career.

CFTE develops leading online courses (Comparable to Harvard Fintech Course, Oxford Fintech programme and MIT Fintech certificate course), Experiential Learning Programmes such as Entrepreneur workshops and also animate a community of 1000 of alumni and experts.

Start with the foundations with our Fintech Foundations Programme and AI in Finance course.

Think and act like an Entrepreneur with our Extrapreneurship Programme.

Meet and get inspired at our Fintech ecosystem

Browse our Fintech Events Agenda.

About CFTE

We are a platform supported by senior leaders from the largest institutions, startups, and universities. We address the needs of professionals in finance to upskill in a rapidly changing industry being transformed by emerging technologies. More than 50,000 participants learn from our online courses, such as AI in Finance, Fintech Foundation or Extrapreneurship, a mini-MBA with fast-growing startups such as Revolut or Shift Technology.

Latest posts

• Extrapreneurship – The Future of Entrepreneurship in Fintech
• How AI is Being Used at Investment Banks – Trade Settlement
• What is eXtrapreneurship?
• How AI is Being Used at Investment Banks – Trade Processing
• Will AI Take My Job?

Next Events[MEC id=”3937″]

The post CFTE Campus – The First Physical FinTech Campus appeared first on CFTE.

A background in finance

Although this is not strictly true, it certainly helps to have a good understanding of how the industry works to lay the foundation for a future career in FinTech. Working directly in the field will give you a thorough idea of what the shortcomings and problems are within the various verticals.

Marketing

As any entrepreneur will tell you, marketing is half the battle. A common mistake startup founders often make is assuming that the audience will see and recognise the worth of their product. Marketing helps to break down what your product/service is to the masses, which in turn can drive plenty of potential leads to your FinTech startup. If you are not sure how best to position your offerings, you need to find someone that does!

Business development

This is the other half of the hustle for the FinTech entrepreneur. As a startup, you will be pressed for business from the get-go and it is up to you to find these leads and channels and convert them to scale quickly. If your services are better than your competitors, you need to make sure that interested parties know this and close the deal quickly. If your leads are locked into long multi-year contracts with rivals, you will not be securing their business anytime soon, no matter how good your product is.

Soft skills

This is something that can be hard to demonstrate on a resume, but necessary skills such as emotional intelligence, creativity and agile thinking can prove to be priceless when building up a FinTech startup. Imagine a leader with every technical skill in the book but is unable to effectively communicate with the team – a disaster waiting to happen! Similarly, the inability to solve problems on the fly and adapt to the rapid changes within the FinTech industry is a sure-fire recipe for failure.

No one can create a FinTech unicorn on their own; soft skills are essential when establishing FinTech startups from the ground up, before scaling when the service is proven. In addition, soft skills can be key to securing funding from angels and other investors. After all, no one wants to invest in a founder that they dislike.

Innovations and problem-solving

As an entrepreneur, you will constantly have to come up with creative methods to solve problems that never seem to go away. Thinking outside the box is paramount, and you will likely find yourself at a roadblock if your problem-solving skills have not been sufficiently developed. Alternatively, you may find your skills developing at a faster rate than ever before if you dive right into the deep end!

The CFTE Extrapreneurship Programme has been created to respond to this need. The programme allows professionals to experience entrepreneurship by working on a strategic issue of high growth startups  (inaugural edition starting on 13 May 2019 with Revolut and Shift Technology – applications currently open).

To read more of our leading new Extrapreneurship programme click here!

About CFTE

We are a platform supported by senior leaders from the largest institutions, startups, and universities. We address the needs of professionals in finance to upskill in a rapidly changing industry being transformed by emerging technologies. More than 50,000 participants learn from our online courses, such as AI in Finance, Fintech Foundation or Extrapreneurship, a mini-MBA with fast-growing startups such as Revolut or Shift Technology.

Latest posts

• Extrapreneurship – The Future of Entrepreneurship in Fintech
• How AI is Being Used at Investment Banks – Trade Settlement
• What is eXtrapreneurship?
• How AI is Being Used at Investment Banks – Trade Processing
• Will AI Take My Job?

Next Events[MEC id=”3937″]

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