Leonardo Da Vinci, who is considered to be one of the most famous Renaissance artists is known for his works such as the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and The Vitruvian Man. Da Vinci might not have been an entrepreneur but what most people do not realise is that his personal traits are highly similar to the characteristics of a modern day entrepreneur.
Da Vinci became involved in art at the age of 14 when he started to work as an apprentice to one of the great artist in Florence, Italy by the name of Andre Di Cione. Ever since Da Vinci has spent his life for art especially painting earning him the respect and recognition even after almost 500 years after his death. The first trait highlighted here is the personal skill. Most entrepreneurs earn different skills which they use as their strength and key tool to start and build their businesses. Sir Alan Sugar used his knowledge in electronics to build his massive electronics empire from scratch which brings me on to the second and third trait....
Mona Lisa
Leonardo Da Vinci was a man who was filled with enormous curiosity and inventive imagination. Even today institutions study the paintings of Da Vinci to retrieve the techniques gone into his workings. As Da Vinci was filled with curiosity, he went on experimenting different methods into his work and becoming more imaginative in his workings which made him create all these fascinating art. It is very important to understand that not all his works were completed hence suggesting not all experimental and creative work will reap success. As you might have understood by now the second and third traits are curiosity and innovation. Curiosity drags entrepreneurs into unknown territory and forces them to use their creative, innovative and imaginative skill to find a business opportunity. One of my most inspiring entrepreneurs Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple attended calligraphy classes in High school out of curiosity and years later the lessons he learnt from those classes helped him form Apple.
The Last Supper
In 1499 when the second Italian war broke out Da Vinci worked as a military architect and engineer who employed devices to defend the city of Venice from attacks. Not only was Da Vinci a great painter, he was an excellent architect working meticulously to solve problems. His services were highly used during the war periods as a military architect, he designed some of the fierce military weaponry used to attack and depend the state. These days you find a lot of companies looking to recruit entrepreneurial minded people for job roles. The simple reason is entrepreneurs are known to be problem solvers and use creativity to solve problems. Entrepreneurs sense problems they encounter or being experienced by others, they analyse if their skills can solve the problems.
The Vitruvian Man
Leonardo Da Vinci's curiosity also made him a man with great vision for the future. His mechanism used on works such as the flying machine and multi barrel gun were used for centuries. Some of his works were secretly hid or never completely finished which exposed his vision for the future. Some entrepreneurs tend to have a vision and stride towards making the vision into a reality. Coming back to Steve Jobs, in the modern era he has been classed one of the finest visionaries. Jobs saw a vision in Apple and Pixar, he started making the vision into reality by working his short term goals. Another great example of a man with vision is Sir Richard Branson with his venture The Virgin Galactic which plans to provide a space flying service to the public. Visionaries make the impossible into the possible.
THE STORY OF LEONARDO DA VINCI
I hope you enjoyed the blog entry and please free to comment irrespective whether it is a negative or positive comment.
Let me first thank my friend Cassim Virani (Cass) for inspiring me to start writing blogs. I am currently in the process of setting up my first business venture calledUniversity Square Food, the progress is steady but slow which means I have alot of spare time during the day and night.
Being an aspiring entrepreneur, I wish to write about the fascinating world of Entrepreneurship to express my views and also hear what other people have got to say.
Why did I name my first blog entry "Sea Shore" ?
I compare the world of entrepreneurship to the beautiful every blue ocean. Just like the endless ocean the minds of entrepreneurs are not tied to any boundaries giving way for these people to go as far as they wish to....The depth of the ocean and the rich elements present is like the venture opportunities available and also acts as a motivational factor for the entrepreneurs to step foot into the ocean from the sea shore. The sea shore acts as a safe starting point for these entrepreneurs to dream about treasures. Start planning, focusing and ready to sail the tides during which the entrepreneurs will need to overcome the painful moments and take the opportunity to enjoy the ride in order to find their treasure (dream).
Not all entrepreneurs succeed in achieving their dreams in the first try, as mentioned in the above para the sea shore acts as a safe harbor for the entrepreneurs to come back to learn their mistakes from their first expedition. They then rectify their mistakes, dream even bigger and set for another journey in search of their treasure..................
