An entrepreneur (ⁱ/ˌɒntrəprəˈnɜr/) is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and/or initiative. The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to help launch a new venture or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the outcome. Jean-Baptiste Say, a French economist, is believed to have coined the word "entrepreneur" in the 19th century - he defined an entrepreneur as "one who undertakes an enterprise, especially a contractor, acting as intermediatory between capital and labour".

Entrepreneurs become what they are for several reasons. Many, depending on the person, choose to do so to avoid workplace drama, discrimination, being taken advantage of, or just to be their own boss. Another reason people become entrepreneurs is to avoid unemployment and attain job security. When an individual cannot find work, he or she may see starting a business enterprise as a suitable alternative and a good way to ensure he or she is never fired.

Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (born July 17, 1982) is an Indian-American internet entrepreneur and a best-selling author. By the age of 25, he founded and sold two advertising companies for a total of US$340 million.

Chahal was born in Tarn Taran Sahib in Punjab, India to Avtar Singh and Arjinder Chahal. In 1985, his parents received a visa for America through the Diversity Visa (DV) program, also known as the Green Card Lottery, and the following year, when he was four, the family settled in San Jose, California.

On December 15, 1998, aged 16, Gurbaksh Chahal dropped out of high school to work full time at his first venture, ClickAgents. ClickAgents was an advertising network focused on performance-based advertising. Two years later, on November 1, 2000, ValueClick announced it agreed to buy ClickAgents in a $40 million all-stock merger.^{[unreliable source?]} Chahal had a three year non-compete agreement with ValueClick.

On January 12, 2004, Chahal formed BlueLithium. BlueLithium specialized in behavioral targeting of banner advertising (a process that tracks web users' habits online in order to show ads they are most likely to respond to). The advertising network which was recognized as an innovator in the online advertising space in a Business 2.0 article. In 2006, under Chahal's leadership, BlueLithium was named Top Innovator by AlwaysOn.

Kevin A. Plank (born August 13, 1972) is an American CEO and founder of Under Armour, Inc., a leading manufacturer of sports performance apparel, footwear and accessories based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Plank is the youngest of five brothers, born into a competitive, tight-knit Roman Catholic family. His father, William Plank (died 1993), was a real estate investor and his mother, Jayne Harper Plank, is a former mayor of Kensington, Maryland. Kevin left Georgetown Preparatory School because of poor academic performance, but went on to play football at Fork Union Military Academy. Plank graduated from St. John's College High School, in Washington, D.C., where he remains an active alumnus. He attended the University of Maryland.

At the University of Maryland, he launched various businesses of his own. Plank developed Cupid's Valentine, an annual business that sold roses for Valentine’s Day. He put away $17,000 from the rose business, which eventually became seed money for Under Armour. The original concept for Under Armour was born out of necessity, as Plank was the self-proclaimed “sweatiest guy on the football field”. Frustrated by his sweat-soaked cotton t-shirts' inability to keep him dry and comfortable, he started the hunt for a material that would wick the sweat from his body to make him lighter and faster.

Seth Godin (born July 10, 1960) is an American entrepreneur, author and public speaker. Godin popularized the topic of permission marketing.

Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Seth Godin graduated from Tufts University in 1979 with a degree in computer science and philosophy. Godin earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. From 1983 to 1986, he worked as a brand manager at Spinnaker Software. For a time Godin commuted every week between California and Boston both to do his new job and to complete his MBA..

After leaving Spinnaker Software in 1986, Godin used $20,000 in savings to found Seth Godin Productions, primarily a book packaging business, out of a studio apartment in New York City. It was in the same offices that Godin met Mark Hurst and founded Yoyodyne. After a few years Godin sold the book packaging business to his employees and focused his efforts on Yoyodyne, one of the first online marketing companies.^{[citation needed]} It was with Yoyodyne that Godin came up with the concept of permission marketing.^{[citation needed]} For a period of time, Godin served as a columnist for Fast Company^{[citation needed]}

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies.

His first business venture was a magazine called Student at the age of 16. In 1970, he set up an audio record mail-order business. In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label.

Branson is the 4th richest citizen of the United Kingdom, according to the Forbes 2011 list of billionaires, with an estimated net worth of US$4.2 billion.

Branson was born in Blackheath, London, the son and eldest child of barrister Edward James Branson (10 March 1918 – 19 March 2011) and Eve Huntley Branson (née Flindt). His grandfather, the Right Honourable Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson, was a judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor. Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School (now Bishopsgate School) until the age of thirteen. He then attended Stowe School until the age of sixteen. Branson has dyslexia and had poor academic performance as a student, but later discovered his ability to connect with others.