The entrepreneur remains an enigma
Revisiting Giuseppe Berta’s book on entrepreneurship for a deeper insight into the subject matter.
“Being at the helm of someone else’s ship is one thing; building the ship, launching it into the sea, and sailing it is quite another. This passage, drawn from a 2020 interview with Avvenire, encapsulates the archetype of the entrepreneur as depicted by Giuseppe Berta, who sadly passed away a few days ago. For many years, Berta was a professor of contemporary history at Bocconi University in Milan and a keen observer of Italian businesses. The entrepreneur has “a dream” – to use a term favoured by certain business historians – and succeeds in bringing it to fruition, experiencing both hardship and joy, selecting the right people to join them on their venture, coordinating and nurturing them, and in turn, growing alongside them.
Berta devoted a book to this individual and his or her special culture, titled “L’enigma dell’imprenditore (e il destino dell’impresa)” [“The Enigma of the Entrepreneur (and the Destiny of the Enterprise)] – a work that is perfectly encapsulated by its title. Indeed, like any compelling book, this literary endeavour by Berta (among his many works) does not offer definitive answers but rather discusses an “enigma”, offering at most some helpful tools for understanding it. And the title immediately establishes a connection between the figure of the entrepreneur and the fate of his or her creations: businesses.
A fate that, upon reading the book, is first delineated from a historical perspective and subsequently in terms of its relevance to the present day (remaining pertinent even a few years post-publication). The entrepreneur is characterised from the mid-eighteenth century onwards, depicted as the catalyst of the economic process. Progressing into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the entrepreneur evolves into an innovator, and then assumes the roles of organiser and manager. Moving on to the present day, we find ourselves in a world where emerging technologies, digitalisation, complexity, and speed appear to offer both new constraints and new opportunities for businesses.
Consequently, the persona of the entrepreneur and their associated culture presents Berta with an opportunity to discuss the evolution of business and capitalism, which, in the final pages, is described in terms of “platforms” rather than individual entities. As we said, it’s a story that doesn’t offer ready-made solutions, but rather provides tools for understanding. All presented in a page-turning style that, while sometimes complex, remains completely comprehensible. It is a book to read – and indeed to re-read – providing food for thought and, unsurprisingly, ending with a question. In discussing contemporary entrepreneurship, which relies on both technology and financial networks, Berta speaks of “a concoction that seems capable of infinitely propelling the prospects and quantity of new entrepreneurs. But for how long?”
L’enigma dell’imprenditore (e il destino dell’impresa)
Giuseppe Berta
Il Mulino, 2018
Revisiting Giuseppe Berta’s book on entrepreneurship for a deeper insight into the subject matter.
“Being at the helm of someone else’s ship is one thing; building the ship, launching it into the sea, and sailing it is quite another. This passage, drawn from a 2020 interview with Avvenire, encapsulates the archetype of the entrepreneur as depicted by Giuseppe Berta, who sadly passed away a few days ago. For many years, Berta was a professor of contemporary history at Bocconi University in Milan and a keen observer of Italian businesses. The entrepreneur has “a dream” – to use a term favoured by certain business historians – and succeeds in bringing it to fruition, experiencing both hardship and joy, selecting the right people to join them on their venture, coordinating and nurturing them, and in turn, growing alongside them.
Berta devoted a book to this individual and his or her special culture, titled “L’enigma dell’imprenditore (e il destino dell’impresa)” [“The Enigma of the Entrepreneur (and the Destiny of the Enterprise)] – a work that is perfectly encapsulated by its title. Indeed, like any compelling book, this literary endeavour by Berta (among his many works) does not offer definitive answers but rather discusses an “enigma”, offering at most some helpful tools for understanding it. And the title immediately establishes a connection between the figure of the entrepreneur and the fate of his or her creations: businesses.
A fate that, upon reading the book, is first delineated from a historical perspective and subsequently in terms of its relevance to the present day (remaining pertinent even a few years post-publication). The entrepreneur is characterised from the mid-eighteenth century onwards, depicted as the catalyst of the economic process. Progressing into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the entrepreneur evolves into an innovator, and then assumes the roles of organiser and manager. Moving on to the present day, we find ourselves in a world where emerging technologies, digitalisation, complexity, and speed appear to offer both new constraints and new opportunities for businesses.
Consequently, the persona of the entrepreneur and their associated culture presents Berta with an opportunity to discuss the evolution of business and capitalism, which, in the final pages, is described in terms of “platforms” rather than individual entities. As we said, it’s a story that doesn’t offer ready-made solutions, but rather provides tools for understanding. All presented in a page-turning style that, while sometimes complex, remains completely comprehensible. It is a book to read – and indeed to re-read – providing food for thought and, unsurprisingly, ending with a question. In discussing contemporary entrepreneurship, which relies on both technology and financial networks, Berta speaks of “a concoction that seems capable of infinitely propelling the prospects and quantity of new entrepreneurs. But for how long?”
L’enigma dell’imprenditore (e il destino dell’impresa)
Giuseppe Berta
Il Mulino, 2018