We kept our ear to the ground at World Entrepreneur of the Year for the interesting stats, insights and discussion points you need to feel in the know to be more entrepreneur.
1. Be more entrepreneur: Traits under pressure
«Be more entrepreneur” might sound simple, but actually living it? Not so much. The CEOs making it work tend to share four traits, and none comes cheap. Agility, when the plan needs rewriting by lunch. Smart risk-taking, when waiting feels safer but costs more. Decisiveness, because perfect data rarely shows up on time. And long-term thinking, even when the quarter is breathing down everyone’s neck. That mix asks a lot of people: nerve, judgment, stamina. But in a market that keeps moving the goalposts, leaders who practice all four don’t just steady the business, they give everyone a reason to move.
Leading like an entrepreneur: four critical traits for CEOs navigating an uncertain world
2. Be more entrepreneur: Growth rewritten
Growth is being rewritten in plain sight. The signals are there. Some leaders are building for the long haul, even as the system tilts the odds. Women-led ventures still receive about 2% of venture capital and are far less likely to access bank funding, leaving millions of would-be founders on the sidelines. Now layer in what comes next. A generation growing up with AI as default, watching who gets funded and who does not. They’re paying attention. So be more entrepreneur. Back substance early. Because the calls made today will shape not just who scales, but what kind of growth the next generation inherits.
How diverse leadership is reshaping the future of growth
3. Be more entrepreneur: Adapt or stall
This is the messy part of the cycle. More than half feel the ground shifting, and the instinct is to be more entrepreneur, not less. So entrepreneurs test, adjust, and go again, even when it feels messy and a little uncomfortable, because it works. Teams hire for adaptability, rethink supply chains, and tinker with how work really gets done day to day. Steady progress happens without a big reveal. The leaders pulling ahead treat resilience like a habit they build week after week…
4. Be more entrepreneur: Think like a founder
Efficiency won’t save you this time. Founders see constraints and smell opportunity, while capital rushes toward size and speed, leaving leaders with brittle supply chains and too much riding on too few bets. So what shifts? Be more entrepreneur. It shows up in the calls leaders make every day. That means smaller, smarter bets. Back people early, before the data feels safe. Build resilience now, not after the shock. Where capital flows shapes what survives. Leaders who think like builders spread risk and unlock growth. Everyone else keeps optimizing, quietly, right up until the system pushes back.
How capital allocation can rebalance capitalism in a changing world
5. Be more entrepreneur: Move before certainty
Uncertainty settles in early and rarely leaves. The CEOs who handle it well move before everything clicks into place, adjusting as things play out. Plans stay fluid, tweaked and stretched as conditions shift. Some weeks call for caution, others open the door to invest, and knowing the difference matters. A steady North Star helps when calls get tougher and the noise picks up. Capital decisions keep getting revisited, sometimes more than feels comfortable. Leaders who pull ahead build businesses that stay steady as everything shifts around them. And they push themselves and their teams to be more entrepreneur.
How entrepreneurs manage uncertainty with planning & capital strategy
If you do one thing:
Be more entrepreneur.
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