I like the way you used analogies throughout your essay to contextualize Bylund’s thoughts on entrepreneurship. However, I feel there is a lot more to be discussed, specifically about the free market. In chapter one of “Seen, the unseen, and the unrealized: How regulations affect our everyday lives”, Bylund talks a lot about a market that is out from under the burden regulation and political influence. In such a world, the free exchange is the fundamental unit for the betterment of society. In a free exchange, two individuals knowingly swap goods, services, or capital. Assuming there is no coercion or undue influence, these individuals are better off following this transaction because if they were not, they would not have gone through with it. I thought you had a quote that related to this very nicely: “Value of objects relies on the value the beholder has for the object in question”. For one individual, the product holds a higher value than the money that it costs to purchase it; for the other, the exact opposite is true. It is a simple concept but one that holds a lot of power and is important to the entrepreneur as it is the means to his livelihood.
I like how you discussed this concept of pros and cons of entrepreneurship. When entering production of a certain product, there is an inherent opportunity cost that comes as a result of choosing the fate of raw materials. This cost is the value that is lost because those materials were not used to produce something else. Unfortunately, opportunity cost is unavoidable, and it can be hard to predict the most efficient and cost effective route for a given set of materials, but this is what entrepreneurs have to do. It is even more tricky when time of production becomes a factor. If production takes a few weeks, there is a risk that the product will not be worth the same then as it does currently. Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to adapt quickly and use the unpredictable to their advantage. Because no one can accurately predict the future, everyone is on the same playing field when it comes to change. Pivoting quickly allows entrepreneurs to get out in front of the competition. This can be difficult, however, when a lot of resources are tied up in production.