2. THE THREE PRINCES OF SERENDIP
English version of Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di
Serendippo
Published by Michele Tramezzino in Venice in 1557
Serendip is the Persian and Urdu name of Sri Lanka
3. SERENDI P
A former name for Sri Lanka. A word coined by Horace
Walpole, who says (Let. to Mann, 28 Jan. 1754) that he had formed it
upon the title of the fairy-tale `The Three Princes of Serendip',
the heroes of which `were always making discoveries, by
accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest
of'.
4. THE STORY
"In ancient times, a great and powerful king by the name of
Giaffer had three sons. And being a good father and very concerned
about their education, he decided that he had to leave them endowed
not only with great power, but also with all kinds of virtues of
which princes are particularly in need."
5. The king searches out the best tutors to teach
them in such a way that they could be
immediately recognized as his very own.
When the tutors are pleased with the progress that the three
princes make in the arts and sciences they report it to the king.
6. However, the king still doubts their training,
he declares that he will retire leaving them as king.
Each politely declines, affirming the father's superior wisdom and
fitness to rule.
The king is pleased, but fearing that his sons' education may have
been too sheltered and privileged, he pretend to be anger at them for
refusing the throne and sends them away from the land.
8. THE LOST CAMEL
No sooner do the three princes arrive abroad than they trace clues to
identify precisely a camel they have never seen. They conclude that the
camel is lame, blind in one eye, missing a tooth, carrying a pregnant
woman, and bearing honey on one side and butter on the other. When
they later encounter the merchant who has lost the camel, they report
their observations to him. He accuses them of stealing the camel and
takes them to the Emperor Beramo, where he demands punishment.
9. Beramo asks how they are able to give such an accurate description
of the camel if they have never seen it. It is clear from the princes'
replies that they have used small clues to infer cleverly the nature of
the camel.
At this moment a traveller enters the scene to say that he has just
found a missing camel wandering in the desert. Beramo spares the
lives of the Three Princes, lavishes rich rewards on them and appoints
them to be his advisors.
10. ARE ENTREPRENEURS BORN OR MADE?
Character of an entrepreneur: Initiator, willingness to take risks,
embodies the leadership to bring together the capital and resources
for the organization, pursue their goal.
11. BILL GATES - MICROSOFT
Bill Gates was brought up in a family
with an entrepreneurial spirit. He saw
the example set by his parents and was
encouraged by them to set up his own
business.
12. According to research by Vivek Wadhwa at UC Berkeley, the average age
when an entrepreneur starts a high-tech company is 40 – after 15-20 years
of work experience.
This work experience gives them enough time to learn essential functional
and management skills including how to build products, how to market
and sell them, and how to build, grow and manage teams.
And finally, it is time that allows you to formulate ideas and get to know
people who you trust implicitly that can help you turn those ideas into a
company.
13. We can’t pick our parents nor our upbringing. We
can, however, choose how hard we work,
what skills we develop and
how we can be our best self.
