Entrepreneur vs Intrapreneur: Understanding The Difference

These days everyone seems to understand what an entrepreneur is, but fewer understand or have heard of the intrapreneur. A term first coined in the ’80s, an intrapreneur shares many of the same features as an entrepreneur. But the setting in which they work is different. While an entrepreneur works in a business created for themselves, an intrapreneur works within the confines of a corporation or business. They bring the same leadership, innovation, and drive to their role as an entrepreneur would in their own business. They just do so as an employee.

Key facts:

• A management consultant, Gifford Pinchot III, brought the term intrapreneur to the mainstream with his book Intrapreneuring: Why you don’t have to leave the corporation to become an entrepreneur, which was published in the 1980s.
• Intrapreneurs take on a level of responsibility for creating innovation within a business.
• While an entrepreneur works for themselves, intrapreneurs work for a company and participate in entrepreneurial activities within that company.

Intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs need to share certain qualities. Leadership is perhaps the most obvious. A good business leader needs to be charismatic and motivating, and intrapreneurs need this diverse set of skills also. Vision is also key. Good leaders need a clear vision to motivate their team and achieve their goals. While an intrapreneur’s vision may be inspired by the overall vision of their company leaders, they still need to be driven toward a tangible vision. Entrepreneurs are known for being agile. They’re not bogged down by corporate guidelines and limits. Intrapreneurs will be limited by their higher-ups in some ways. But they still must be adaptable and able to pivot when needed.

The biggest downside of being an entrepreneur is relying on outside funding and trying to sell a potentially untested product or service in the market. Intrapreneurs are able to work within their company and get resources. Both monetary resources and staff resources! Intrapreneurs may still not be allowed to wear their pajamas to work like a caricature of an entrepreneur. But they have a significant safety net and support from the company. They also won’t necessarily reap the potential benefits of being an entrepreneur and raking in a lot of cash on a successful venture. If you’re going to groom an intrapreneur in your own business, you should try to offer them benefits that fit with their dedication and passion – after all, you won’t want to lose them!