Shuttling between tech meetups, VC meetings and conferences, I realized that there are so many types of entrepreneurs that it would be a mistake to group them all under one general umbrella. So I tried to correct that horrible wrong with this list of all entrepreneur types from A-Z.
Classic example of a fantrepreneur photo courtesy of Phil Hawksworth
ALL ENTREPRENEURS FROM A - Z
Againtrepreneur
Just sold their 5th company in 3 years.
Bumtrepreneur
They litter the streets of San Francisco, sleeping in doorways and begging for spare change. They individually make more money in a month than most Web2.0 companies.
Can'trepreneur
5 failed startups and it's probably worth revisiting that 9-5 deskjob.
Don-trepreneur
The Godfather of investors for Entrepreneurs. You probably want to check your termsheets carefully for the clause on broken kneecaps.
Entrepreneur
General class that accurately describes only 5% of the groups on this page.
Fantrepreneur
HOLY CRAP KEVIN ROSE JUST WALKED INTO THE ROOM HAI KEVIN I LOVE DIGG CAN YOU GIVE ME TIPZ FOR MY STARTUP PLEAZE?
Gonetrepreneur
An entrepreneur who has been kicked out of the CEO position by his board.
Hammtrepreneur
A special class reserved for 90's rap stars turned nontrepeneurs, currently exclusive to MC Hammer.
Intrepreneur
An entrepreneur with 500+ connections on LinkedIn. He's probably never met 95% of them, but hordes connections like they are baseball cards.
Johntrepreneur
A funded entrepreneur who will flush every penny invested in his startup down the toilet.
Klantrepreneur
An entrepreneur who builds an empire on a simple premise: Peddle sheets to racists.
Lawntrepreneur
Gardener.
Mantrapreneur
An entrepreneur who peddles advice books full of silly motivation catchphrases to wantrepreneurs.
Nontrepreneur
Anyone who thinks their [embeddable widget|facebook app|niche social network] is a viable business model and that they are an entrepreneur.
Octogentrepreneur
Someone who creates their first start-up to fill the boredom left when their grandkids don't visit. Industry staple: guilt.
Pawntrepreneur
An entrepreneur who bootstraps his company by maxing out every credit card, working out of a Starbucks and living off of Ramen noodles.
Quitrepreneur
Couldn't stomach the emotional rollercoaster and left of their own volition. (Weak, but come on Q is hard).
Raunchtrepreneur
Somehow discovered a carefully guarded entrepreneurial secret: People pay for porn on the Internet. His mom thinks he resells antiques on eBay.
Sontrepreneur
Daddy was succesful 25 years ago, therefore son's stupid startup will get funding.
Titantrepreneur
Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Sergei Brin, Bill Gates and Not You.
Underpreneur
Second-in-command until the entrerpreneur becomes the gonetrepreneur.
Ventrepreneur
A Venture Capitalist who has actual entrepreneurial experience. In other words, the best Venture Capitalist worth engaging with.
Wantrepeneur
Someone who wishes they were an entrepreneur. They can usually be found hanging around Tech MeetUps taking notes furiously for the One Day in the Future that they will quit their 9-5 job and found a startup. (PS. It will never happen).
X-trepreneur
For whatever reason, they've made the choice to abandon startup lifes for good. See zentrepreneurs, ventrepreneurs, quitriprineurs and gonetrepreneurs.
Youngtrepreneur
Sold their first company by the age of 14.
Zentrepreneur
Anyone who has achieved entrepreneurial nirvana, generally in the form of executing their startup to IPO or succesful sale.
Thanks to Michael for contributing some ideas to this list. If anyone has any more, please list them in the comments.
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Posted by Adam on 2008-05-08 18:47:51
Hypetrepreneur: they don't have anything, no engineers, no (viable) business plan, no product, etc. but they puff themselves out of all proportion, claim to own stuff they just resell, claim to have things they haven't even started building yet, have a list of connections a mile long and use them to hype themselves, and are going to be the next Bill Gates (just ask them).
Posted by Tina Dougherty on 2008-05-12 23:31:08
Zenopreneur - Starts a company so they can work from home and thus avoid working with others in person. Does everything via phone and email, doesn't meet clients in person, and increases revenue over 200% while wearing Star Wars pajamas.
Posted by deranGed PB on 2008-05-15 14:29:49
ProBloggerPreneur - creates a new blog every week, spends his/her ENTIRE DAY online day after day, networks with a gazillion others, writes tons of blog posts, belongs to all the major social media networks, swears by Twitter, thinks Darren Rowse is god, makes ZERO MONEY.
Posted by Jayme on 2008-05-15 16:33:48
Hey! You forgot the Momtrepreneur--Working from home 'cause she can't get out of the house. Does amazing things with baby in one arm and toddler clinging to leg. Great Ideas are born of desperation! Like Blue-tooth and disposable diapers!
Not to be confused with the Budtrepreneur--guy who "works" from home because it's closer to the TV and fridge. Spends 15 minutes a day creating a screensaver that looks like work so he can spend the rest of the day watching pay channels and downing brews. His "business' last only as long as his wife's, mom's or girlfriend's blindness to the fact that the cable bill is rising and the website doesn't move!
I am so mean!
How about the Fergitrepreneur--Bigger, older, not really blond girls who can sell themselves and whatever they put on video as something great! Hey! It worked for her!
Posted by TrendyGoodnight on 2008-05-20 21:07:45
PresidenTrePreneur--Aces the Campaign Fund racing website, encourages blogging by supporters, supporters follow their leader with hundreds of YouTube entries, social networks via MySpace and Facebook, holds blogger conferences, got the picture, get the vote.
Posted by Ken Mizell on 2008-07-31 19:54:55
since Q was a cop out... here's a better Q.
Quantumpreneur - the nuclear physicist turned entrepreneur, whose ideas will work if they have time to build all of the underlying evolutions of technology needed as the foundation for their idea... and still have funds left to build a gravity wave engine once the underlying pieces exist. You can spot these guys in your history books as the ones who died penniless but who's ideas spawned a mega-corporation after their deaty (goodyear... )
:)
Posted by Literary Magic on 2008-08-05 15:29:57
Authorpreneur--an writer who is both an author and an entrepreneur, since authors also have to market their books, sell them and write proposals about them.
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Posted by Avi Muchnick on 2008-05-08 12:36:12
Some that didn't make the cut.
Altrepreneur An entrepreneur driven the chance to make an altruistic impact on society. Monetization is secondary.
Tantrepeneur Entrepreneur currently residing in Miami
BonBontrepreneur An entrepreneur who stuffs his/her face with more funding then they will ever need, blissfully unaware that they will regret it in the long term.
Flauntrepreneur "Oh hi, did I tell you about My Startup? Well, My Startup is in stealth mode so I can't tell you about My Startup but My Startup will be bigger than Facebook."
Funtrepreneur Love their job and who wouldn't? Between the PS3 in the comfy staff lounge, $2,000 Espresso machines in the kitchen, Aeron Chairs and all-you-can drink company parties, who has time to, you know... work?