The question is straight-forward: can entrepreneurship be taught? Unfortunately the answer is neither black nor white. The problem being entrepreneurship is an area that area that requires some expertise, some experience, and sometimes pure luck. Some argue that entrepreneurs have inherit traits that make them more capable of starting a business, producing a good, or executing a service. On the other hand, Entrepreneur magazine says entrepreneurship can most certainly be taught. In fact, they rank the Top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges each year demonstrating the academic resources dedicated to teaching entrepreneurship. Can both sides be right?

Obviously entrepreneurship is, and will continue to be, taught. In fact, Jerome Katz from St. Louis University has studied the trend and says that “entrepreneurship is the fastest-growing course of study on campuses nationwide.” Though, there are certain aspects that can’t be learned. In other words, someone with experience taking risks can approach you and tell you everything they know. That doesn’t mean that the skill can be transferred. The same can be said for being passionate, an often-cited character trait of entrepreneurs. In those cases, ‘entrepreneur DNA’ and experience are necessary.

I’ve asked a few personal friends (entrepreneurs) and their responses echo the necessity to have previous experiences and, perhaps more importantly, failures. The majority of new businesses end up failing5 and most people learn best from their own experiences. One’s ability to work with different personalities and manage organizational skills are relative to the individual and their business. Sometimes it’ll take a mistake (or many) to learn how to become a successful entrepreneur. In those cases, entrepreneurship is learned by doing. With that said, there are many avoidable mistakes that a classroom and a textbook can solve. Cash flow and financing are good lessons to learn from someone else. Many people have already made mistakes in many areas and theres no reason why one wouldn’t be able to learn from them. Not every lesson will apply but the point is that these elements of entrepreneurship can be taught.

Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. -Thomas John Watson, Sr.

I liken entrepreneurship to a form of art. Musicians can be taught music theory and any number of fundamentals, but it takes a certain level of creativity and genius to sit down and compose a piece of music. Some of the most successful individuals have had no formal education in any of these areas. Some have had a formal education and possess the innate ability to write, paint, or create a business. Others happen to be in the right place at the right time and happen to be good at execution. The point being, there are any number of lessons and skills to be taught, but the implementation of them (like any knowledge) will determine what comes of the teaching.

So yes, entrepreneurship can be taught. I don’t think successful entrepreneurship can.

I’m interested in your opinions though. Specifically, I wonder what David Cohen, Ben Casnocha, Brad Feld, Andrew Chen, Tyme White, Mike Rundle, and Scrivs think. The discussion is also posted here at 9rules.