Take a look at this Stanford lecture titled Mercenaries or Missionaries.
This video describes more than just entrepreneurship. It's about calling in general. Being an entrepreneur is hard and usually doesn't pay as well as just working for someone else. The speaker is right: those who make it in the long run would do it for free. It's the way they give back to the world.
The call to serve applies to Christian missionaires, too. What makes missionaries differ from the rest of us?
1. Their sacrifices are more visible and less avoidable.
2. Most have to raise support.
These two items also describe entrepreneurs.
Life is getting easier for the entrepreneur because of Internet access and the capital markets. It's easier to start a side business today, and if you really need funding to go big, you can go to a venture capitalist who's pooled the money from dozens of sources and spread risk to lots of start-ups.
Liquid markets and online account management have already made it possible for some missionaries to self-fund. Perhaps Internet access and globalization will eventually make life easier for all missionaries. What do you think?
Mercenaries or Missionaries?
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July 29, 2011
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