How one philanthropist is using neuroscience to battle the cult of the entrepreneur

Nothing is more revered than a self-employed, self-made individual. But it is not all 5am-rising, go-getting, carpe diem-ing and being money-making machines, Martin Friel finds

The manufactured image that often accompanied entrepreneurs couldn't be further from the truth (Stefan Allesch-Taylor)

Much is made of the power of the entrepreneur. The risk-taker, relentless in their drive to build, grow and profit from enterprise. Our culture has elevated them to the position of an all-knowing business guru, an individual born with something more than the mere mortals who toil away under the yoke of PAYE.

You’ll find these individuals polluting your LinkedIn feed with their humble-brag tales of wealth creation, clawing to out-entrepreneur each other on The Apprentice and being lauded as demi-gods on Dragons’ Den.

But what if this perception of the entrepreneur was a false one, an image created by individuals who want us to believe that they are special, that there is something unique about them. What if it was all just a clever self-marketing ploy?