@mheez andrea
"prove that these statements are NOT true for entrepreneurs:"
- they are doers not thinkers
--> they think before they do and then think and act upon the results. This is quite a black 'n white view to say they are not thinking. Entrepreneurs have to fill in both, that's what separates them from others.
- they are born not made
--> Entrepreneurship is 50% genetically and 50% environmentally driven. Again, I think it depends on more than just one factor.
- they are always inventors
--> to invent is human, to act upon your ideas and pursue is entrepreneurial
- they are academic and social misfits
--> I sincerely hope not. I enjoyed college a lot, if I can speak for myself. I don't think this is a barrier to achieve my business dreams. Have you ever heard of an "academic and social misfit" that started a company and failed? No? Doesn't surprise me as people only talk about the few who succeeded. Cause that's a story. Others were just... misfits.
- they are extreme risk-takers
--> I re-take my former reaction: "doing nothing is perceived as the ultimate failure". So yes, taking risks is part of the game.
- they experience high failure rate but seek success
--> "Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm."
-- Sir Winston Churchill  

prove that these statements are NOT true for entrepreneurs:
- they are doers not thinkers
- they are born not made
- they are always inventors
- they are academic and social misfits
- they are extreme risk-takers
- they experience high failure rate but seek success  

@MAJJAH GROUP: I think your mother was right, and all an entrepeneur has to do is decide to which amount he will have his fear get the better of him.

Because fear can keep you from going into the water at all or it can help you find the point were the danger seems to great.  

Risk taking is second nature to entrepreneurs.  

There seem to be another event organised in this cycle Doers & Thinkers by Fortis. Someone told me it would be an englishmen from a university. This will ilustrate the "Think" side, after the "Do" side. Who knows which this guy is and where the conference is hold ?  

When I was a kid, my mother used to told me on the beach : "Only fear can keep you from drowning..."  

I agree on the fact that even the bravest still fear to fail (a bit of fear feeds your attention, and keeps you awake!). But entrepreneurs are instinctively very driven to create, change & optimize to an extent where 'doing nothing' is perceived as the ultimate failure. In that perspective, they tend to reason that a bad decision is still better than no decision. And that probably makes a lot of entrepreneurs look fearless, I think.  

I do think lots of people are too sure about their current comfortable position.

I've talked with lots of people the last months, and I've seen lots of people who had been in a very comfortable position for years, until something happens (an multinational just has to decide to go to another country ...) and then find themselves in a very difficult position, not having learned to renew their talents for years ...

So what is worst ? The fear to fail by starting and renewing, or the potential danger lots of people don't want to face ...  

Harvey I agree with you, that it would be strange to find people who are not afraid. But maybe entrepreneurs are people who are not afraid to fail and because they do not fear failure, they are willing to leave their comfortable situation. But that off course only counts for people who have a comfortable position. That probably explains why you find more startups in countries with bad working situations or shaky economies, for example Poles who start a business in the Netherlands, because at home they would be out of work. Or women in India who use a micro loan to start selling stuff to earn money so they can feed their family.

So one can still be afraid "Maybe I will fail?", but still start a business, because he or she thinks "But that is not worse than my current situation!"

I think that Woodroffe is right. You need to conquer your fear to fail to be able to start and to get on track. And being able to keep you fear of failure in check means being able to look honestly at what you are doing. Which is needed to be able to see, that you have to do things differently from what others do, especially if you are doing something new.

But in the end it is all about doing and that starts with leaving the comforts of home and well known situations.  

In Woodroffe's view, "entrepeneurs are not afraid to fail, must be willing to venture outside their comfort zone and one must be outrageously different in today's bussiness environment to stand out from the crowd".

Good stuff!

AND, I don't believe in people (such as entrepeneurs) who are not afraid. I suggest entrepeneurs may be braver, more couragous, then most, setting off despite their fear(s), thus their willingsness to venture outside their comfort zone. With respect to being outrageous, the need for that must surely depend on the venture at hand.