Intrapreneur: What Is an Intrapreneur?

An intrapreneur works for a company or organization to generate original project ideas, products, or services the business can promote. As an employee of an organization, an intrapreneur has access to critical resources within the business, such as funds and technology. Intrapreneurs use their creative and inventive mindset to develop projects that will assist the company in various ways. Examples of intrapreneurship include developing projects that improve company processes, creating marketable products for the company to sell, or problem-solving company pain points.

Intrapreneurs often employ entrepreneurial skills when creating a new product or operational strategy. Here are a few other areas where the two roles converge:

1. 1. Leadership: Intrapreneurs lead a team of employees and different departments within a company to take a project through completion. Thus, intrapreneurs have excellent leadership skills, as they communicate with both their team members and company executives. Entrepreneurs also serve as leaders by assuming responsibility for their new business or product. While some entrepreneurs start their new venture projects on their own, some lead a small team.
2. 2. Mindset: Both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs have a goal of innovation and creation; therefore, they have a similar work mindset. For any type of creative position, you must be flexible and adaptable. Adaptability is a key asset for an intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial work environment. Intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs often face obstacles when trying to build a new product, design, or procedure; however, during these setbacks, intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs problem-solve for a new solution. Both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs also view failure as an opportunity for learning and growth. Only some projects will end in success, yet learning what went wrong can better equip you for the future.
3. 3. Skills: Successful intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs have similar skill sets. For example, intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship both require critical thinking, risk management, leadership, communication, decision-making, and marketing skills. While an intrapreneur may work for a large company and an entrepreneur runs their own business, both focus on business growth and thus need analytical skills and innovative ideas.

While the two roles share similarities, intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs also have their differences, including:

1. 1. Funds: One of the benefits of working as an intrapreneur is that you don’t have to find ways to fundraise your ideas, as the company provides the necessary resources and funds to support your project. Entrepreneurs work for themselves; therefore, they don’t have a single company supporting their small business endeavors. Instead, entrepreneurs fund their projects with their own finances or external investors.
2. 2. Purpose: Intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs have different purposes. Intrapreneurs aim to improve an existing company, while entrepreneurs work to create a company or service from the ground up.
3. 3. Resources: Large organizations and companies have resources across departments, which intrapreneurs can utilize to help with project management. Some of these resources include networks with other industry clients, mentoring programs with supervisors, and marketing and IT teams. The average entrepreneur has a different set of resources than a large corporation or existing organization. Thus, successful entrepreneurs often have to fundraise and network to develop their projects from start to finish.
4. 4. Risk: Another main difference between intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs is how they assume risk in terms of financial gains and losses. While both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs develop business plans with clear risk-taking strategies, entrepreneurs assume more risk in the case of financial losses. As employees of a company, intrapreneurs have limited risk if a project fails; however, entrepreneurs expose themselves to all types of risks.

There are pros and cons to working as an intrapreneur and entrepreneur. While entrepreneurs have the freedom to run their own startup, they assume all the risk if their business venture fails. Intrapreneurs have the support of an existing company and therefore assume less financial risk; however, they have less freedom since they are employees of a company. Whether you should pursue a career as an intrapreneur within an established company or entrepreneur on your own depends on your personal goals.

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