Entrepreneurs, mompreneurs, solopreneurs, micropreneurs, partnerpreneurs, kidpreneurs, the list grows daily.

If you listen to the media these days the only career of merit is to be a somethingpreneur and that those who work for large companies should quit to start their own biz or be branded as losers.

I am taking this opportunity to state categorically, once and for all that that’s a crock.

Seriously.

There are millions of talented, driven, high producers who work happily in large companies of all kinds across the country.

They aren’t there because they are scared to do their own thing.

They aren’t there because they aren’t innovative or lack creativity.

They aren’t there because they are lazy, uncaring or stupid.

They don’t deserve to be labeled drudges or losers because they thrive in the corporate world.

They are the people who will buy or use the somethingpreneur products.

Their employers are the companies that will acquire or partner many of the somethingpreneur companies.

The somethingpreneur ecosystem would crash and burn without these companies and their employees.

The companies would crash and burn without those employees.

Somethingpreneurs couldn’t scale their companies without these people.

The idea that a person is better because they founded or work in a startup is hype; they are different, not worse or better—just different.

No matter the size of the company, it comes down to cultural fit.

Not just the company culture, but the specific culture propagated by the manager for whom they work.

It’s not just about risk-taking. The days when corporate size, unions, public service or professional degrees (doctors, lawyers) mitigated job risk are long gone.

It’s not even about a person’s accomplishments in their previous/current job.

It’s about what that person would do in your company’s culture and under your management.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/koalazymonkey/5089128512/

Attention culture mavens. Bob Buderi, Founder, CEO and Editor in Chief of Xconomy, has a great post up comparing Seattle and Boston founders’ one-word descriptions of their cultures.

Here is the lists.

The fact that they look as if the traits were reversed is Bob’s focus (read his post), but ignoring location, let’s consider them based on meaning.

Agreed, one word doesn’t give much leeway, but it is a good indication of a founder’s thoughts, that said, there are some from both coasts that don’t cut it for me in terms of describing a great culture.

Humble and Easy stand out on the western, despite their founders’ explanations, whereas Safety makes sense because it is a pharmaceutical house. Paranoid might turn some people off, but that cultural attitude started at Intel, is still going strong and has served them well.

On the other coast, Cool and Magical don’t make it for me.

What works for you?

Based on this list, in which cultures would you like to work?

Which, based on their chosen word, do you think are most likely to succeed?

Image credit: ckdish on sxc.hu and deboer on sxc.hu

Yesterday I explained why I don’t like the term cult culture, although I agree that culture is the tao of (in today’s buzz words) employee engagement.

But I’ve always believed that if you reject an idea it’s your responsibility to offer up something else and I have just the thing.

Cultural Passion.

When you harness people’s passion you have a tiger by the tail. Passion drives creativity, innovation, productivity, retention and a host of other desired behaviors.

But you can’t request passion from your people nor wheedle or cajole and you certainly can’t order people to be passionate.

To enjoy the benefits of passion you must first build a culture that stimulates it; as people grow to trust the culture their passion will grow.

Creating a culture of passion where it doesn’t exist is a long-term project, not only do you need to identify and change various parts of the current culture you need to rebuild trust with a workforce that may have been badly burned previously.

Creating one in a startup is easier, because you start with a clean slate.

However, in both instances, it is imperative to make your culture a filter through which any new hire, especially managers, no matter how senior, must pass.

Whether a startup or giant enterprise, it is cultural passion that makes the impossible improbable and the improbable likely.

Image credit: It’s Holly on flickr

When would you evacuate?

Image credit: dierken on flickr

Many economic pundits are predicting the end of this economic meltdown (see previous post). Chalk those predictions up to the optimism of springtime and the need to fill a news cycle.

While rates of decline for various economic indicators may be decreasing, the excesses that created this meltdown will take years to work through. The ham-handed responses by government and many businesses will only delay the eventual recovery. This is only a break in the winter weather.

But even as the economic meltdown is only now approaching its nadir, a few new businesses may find this to be a fertile time to set up shop.

Consider the single greatest expense and challenge of most new businesses – finding and attracting talented workers, trained and immediately available for interesting work.

Currently the US economy provides 155 million jobs. This meltdown has reduced employment through five distinct mechanisms shown in the table below:

Given that the measured statistics are usually undercounts and that these unemployment/underemployment numbers will grow in the next 12 months, likely over 32 million workers (over 20%) in the US will have talents and time available to participate in another business.

For many companies, payroll costs represent over 65% of total expenses. For new ventures, personnel costs can be much larger, up to 90% of expenses. In this environment, many workers are searching for work.

New ventures traditionally offer below-market compensation for their workers. However, they offer other significant benefits.

Typically, new ventures offer broader scope in each job, better growth opportunities, ability to make large, direct, measurable contributions to the organization, and the enthusiasm of working in a small, close-knit team. Some new ventures offer profit participation or stock options. For unemployed or underemployed workers, these benefits can be significant, even when the cash compensation is low.

Technology and the recession have dramatically reduced other business operating costs. The cost of computers, phone systems, and tele-conferencing have dropped. Office space is cheaper, and home-based employees can cut that cost even further. Travel, where necessary, is cheaper than any time in the past ten years.

Even without easy availability of capital for start-ups, this recession may offer fertile ground for new ventures and with the added benefit of retaining far more of the equity.