The contribution of deprivation and disadvantage to entrepreneurial success

This research lends support to the suggestion that successful entrepreneurs experienced deprivation or disadvantage in their childhood or early youth. It is suggested that those childhood experiences are key to the entrepreneur's significant capacity to withstand or not notice aversive and stressful situations, and therefore be willing and able to continue in the face of maladaptive and less adaptive outcomes generated through the entrepreneurship process. Specifically, those experiences of deprivation or disadvantage contribute to entrepreneurial success through the development of resilience. It is suggested that resilience is an enabler of sustained entrepreneurial action, which itself is a precursor to entrepreneurial success.