The new entrepreneur: do you have the DNA?

A report predicts that in less than three years, more than half of UK GDP will be generated by people who create something from nothing. One of its co-authors, Julie Meyer, founder of First Tuesday and chief executive of Ariadne Capital, outlines what qualities tomorrow's entrepreneurs should possess. Read original article

• Dragons' Den
• Developing the Future
• Ariadne Capital

British business should continually be looking to innovate, to keep up with the challenges from increased global competition

The list of high profile and successful modern day entrepreneurs is almost endless - Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Eric Baker, or Martin Stiksel, Richard Jones and Felix Miller.

It is a great time to be an entrepreneur working with technology.

The internet has proved to be a powerful platform for entrepreneurship. It is a ready made, fast track gateway to an unrivalled customer base.

The internet, put simply, is a great low cost environment to test ideas and turn them into a fully fledged and potentially lucrative business.

But what makes those modern day entrepreneurs different?

• They have a desire to succeed and to break out of the 9 to 5 routine
• They know where the buck stops. It stops with them and sometimes hits them smack bang in their forehead
• They think differently; they see things others don't
• They feel compelled to make things happen because something does not exist, which they believe should

Sometime that can take the form of blind faith which leads to catastrophe.

But, more frequently, it represents a sharp insight which is harnessed into a step change in how an industry operates.

• Entrepreneurs are not afraid to fail and learn from mistakes. Failure, certainly more so in the US, is seen as a key component of future success
• They understand technology. It is a great time to know something about technology. Some of today's entrepreneurs would have been stereotyped as geeks a few years ago, but some could not write code if they tried. What unites them is an understanding of what technology can do and, more importantly, how future customers might use it
• They are positive people. Where some would see obstacles they see possibilities

Stay in Britain

Entrepreneurship is about taking a leap of faith and is certainly not for the faint hearted.

It is about persisting and ultimately about taking total accountability for a company and your life - the good, the bad and the ugly.

British business should continually be looking to innovate, to keep up with the challenges from increased global competition, and attract as much of this "magical" entrepreneurial DNA into their four walls.

Having contributed to the Developing the Future Report - along with the likes of Microsoft, The Work Foundation, Sir Digby Jones, BCS and Intellect to name a few - it is clear to me that entrepreneurial spirit and DNA will be critical to the long term success of Britain.

However, the UK is still feudal in many regards. A large segment of society still argue for the master/slave relationship - the employer/employee relationship - even though the individual revolution brought about by the internet is busting wide open these outmoded relationships.

With this in mind, it is not surprising to hear that some of the finest entrepreneurs have gone elsewhere to build there dreams.

The Developing the Future Report and the individuals and organisations involved have set out a vision for creating a future that allows the UK to foster the best entrepreneurs and ultimately to stop our greatest talent going overseas.