Do your genes control your level of entrepreneurship? Your willingness to risk? To go it alone?

Case Western University economist Scott Shane has a new book, Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders: How Your Genes Affect Your Work Life which will confirm some of your hunches about entrepreneurs. "Entrepreneurship, job satisfaction, financial risk-taking", Scott says our genes influence all this and more.

I'm ready for Scott because Joshua Baer has me reading The HypoManic: The Link Between a Little Craziness and A lot of Success by John D. Gartner, which describes the Puritans as venture capitalists, but also as a "lunatic fringe whose paranoia was matched only by their grandiosity". Does that description still fit?

Think of the gene pool of this country... it contains remnants of all the settlers who abandoned the old country and came to America to seek their fortune. Maybe that explains entrepreneurship in this country, but Scott argues, no, that's not the case.

"Novelty-seeking", that's the new buzz-word, and Scott describes how it affects entrepreneurs' drive to do what they do.

Then as we wrap up, Scott helps me to apply these theories to my home life...

Check out Scott's Illusions of Entrepreneurship and the classic, Fool's Gold?: The Truth Behind Angel Investing in America.

Show #277 (30:15) Listen

Come to an angel conference:
Seattle: March 11-12, the NW Regional Angel Summit hosted by the Alliance of Angels
Tucson: March 22, the SW Regional Angel Summit hosted by the Desert Angels
Istanbul: April 15-16, EBAN's 2010 Congress. Join me as I moderate a panel on angel investing and 'animate' the Awards ceremony.
Austin: April 21, the Texas Entrepreneur Funding Symposium. Come see Austin's vibrant entrepreneurial community for yourself; I'll keynote.
San Francisco: May 5-7, Angel Capital Association's Annual Summit.