Start-Up Century: Why everyone is becoming an entrepreneur, and what can be done to help them

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A fresh look at the boom in entrepreneurship and start-ups – and how that will change the world of work in the coming decade.

Start-Up Century describes how the current entrepreneurial revolution came into being, the challenges it faces, and the exciting future it promises. Why this revolution is happening, and how we as individuals, societies and democracies respond to it, are now amongst the most pressing questions of the 21st century – and this book is here to answer them.

Does it sometimes feel like everyone you know is thinking about quitting their jobs and starting a business? That’s because they are. For the last few decades, the idea of entrepreneurship has been closely linked to a small group of people in Silicon Valley, and the explosion of start-ups and technology businesses that started there and which have come to dominate much of our lives. This entrepreneurial revolution has created huge technological advances, undoubtedly created new problems, and made some people exceptionally wealthy and influential in the process.

But that was just phase one. We are now entering phase two of this entrepreneurial revolution as it goes global. From the ‘Great Resignation’ to an explosion in the number of people starting their own companies, we are in the midst of a seismic shift in the way most people in the West have worked for the last 200 years, as people jettison traditional careers to become self-starters and entrepreneurs. Whether builders of new products, creators of content, freelancers or gig-economy workers, a group that currently makes up less than 10% of the workforce is on track to become one of the prevalent forms of employment over the coming years. This is the story of how and why start-ups – and not corporates – will be the dominant form of work in the 21st century, and what this means for our institutions, culture and livelihoods.

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