The Unseen Divide Between Founders and Entrepreneurs: What Sets Them Apart

Here to Protect!

There is often significant confusion between the roles of a Founder and an Entrepreneur. A Founder is definitely an Entrepreneur. However, an Entrepreneur is not always a Founder. This is a distinction that often gets lost in the Incubator and Accelerator world.

Let's start with what a Founder is. In the basic sense, a founder is tied to one specific venture. If you founded Company X, you’ll always be its founder—even if you leave. What is strikingly different from an Entrepreneur is that a founder has a personal mission or vision behind the business—something they deeply care about or want to see exist in the world.

From my own experience, I realized I was one of those who confused the two. I had always thought a Founder was an Entrepreneur and vice versa. I claimed I was a serial Entrepreneur, but in fact I was a serial Founder.

How did I know? It was the eventual realization that once I got the business to a replicatable state, and I raised money, and hired people, I often then lost any control over its direction. The mission and vision changed. Those that took control had their own ideas. It didn't always work for them. In fact, I can only point to one success, and I regret not having retained it.

An Entrepreneur is an opportunist, which is not necessarily a negative trait. They are driven by identifying gaps in the market or solving problems that can lead to profit. They tend to get in the game early and are excellent at growing and accelerating the revenue side of things. That in turn creates jobs, prosperity and value.

Founders take the greatest risk. They are 'all in' emotionally and financially on their ONE BIG IDEA. They are driven by confidence, commitment and passion and are, quite frankly, the Mother of all businesses. Entrepreneurs spread risk across multiple investments and tend to far more pragmatic. They should have a passion for the market, but don't always.

Founders are usually involved from ideation to launch, and often stick around to shape company culture. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, may enter at any stage—starting, acquiring, scaling, or even selling a business.

Let's make an a musical analogy. The Founder is like the artist starting a band from scratch. An Entrepreneur is like the music producer who forms multiple acts, signs talent, or flips music labels. We all know what is happening in the music industry. The evidence is clear that it is also happening in the startup communities.

One of the reasons we started the Founders Music Lab was because it became quite apparent that the predatory nature of commerce tended to destroy Founders before they even got to launch. Entrepreneurs can kill a Founder, but a Founder cannot kill an Entrepreneur. We need to protect our Founders. The more we do, the greater our local and regional health and prosperity will be.

Written by Bill Waters, July 2025

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