Entrepreneur Interview Assignment

Introduction to Entrepreneurship/Feasibility (ENT320-1)

Spring 2021

Entrepreneur Interview Assignment

According to entrepreneurship professor Donald F. Kuratko in his text, Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process & Practice,

“three major sources of information supply data related to the entrepreneurial mindset. The first source is publications,

research based as well as popular. The second major source of information is direct observation of practicing

entrepreneurs (e.g. interviews). The final source of entrepreneurial information is speeches and presentations” (the UT Entrepreneurship Center’s “Speaker Programs”). In order to better understand the entrepreneurial mindset, we will utilize

all three of these sources of information.

The Assignment:

• Each student will interview two “entrepreneurs” (as defined generally) from the local, regional or national business community using the interview topics from the text and developed in class. Better papers will interview

one small businessperson and one “entrepreneur” (as defined in class), the latter likely being more difficult to

identify and interview, and thus, if done well, awarded a higher grade for that effort. The subject of your

interviews should be the founder of the organization unless you intend to focus on the topic of

“intrapreneurship”, which is acceptable, provided you define intrapreneurship and fully explain how your subject

acted intrapreneurial within the existing organization. The focus of the interview and subsequent paper should

be on the entrepreneurs and their “entrepreneurial traits” and not on the entrepreneurs’ business. The

interview should be conducted in-person via Zoom or another similar video communication platform. Please

avoid email or phone interviews unless instructor grants specific permission. You may not interview businesses

operating in the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center or current University of Tampa students.

• Note: Entrepreneurs are generally speaking, very busy people. Therefore, students should locate and interview their prospective entrepreneurs as soon as possible to avoid submitting a paper late. Papers turned in after the due

date/time will be subject to the penalties specified in the syllabus.

• After conducting the interviews, students will submit a double-spaced paper (via the Blackboard platform) between 3 (minimum) and 5 (maximum) pages long that summarizes the interviews (Do not submit or attach the actual interview). Due to the 5-page limit your writing will need to be concise with no excess verbage. The grade

for this assignment will be based on content, writing style (i.e. correct grammar, usage, spelling, etc.) and your

ability to follow the assignment’s instructions. Better papers will be those that display a level of creativity and

innovativeness and, analyze/compare/contrast the information gained during the interview with the materials from

our class discussions, assigned readings or other outside sources (other books, magazine articles, newspapers,

etc.). All outside sources should be properly cited in a List of References located at the end of the paper. The list

of references will not count toward the 5-page limit.

• Contact information (full names, email addresses and phone numbers of both interviewees must be included on the last page of your submission as your instructor intends to call a random sample of the interviewees to verify

that an interview did in fact take place.

• The paper should be submitted via the Blackboard platform’s “Assignments” link.

• The paper should be double spaced with no more than two (2) spaces between paragraphs (Caution: Word uses 1.5 spacing as a default setting). 12 pt., Times New Roman font. 1-inch top, bottom and side margins.

Make sure you proofread and edit the paper thoroughly! Check for spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalization

errors, as well as run-on and fragmented sentences. At your level of education, spelling and grammatical errors are not

acceptable. Additionally, papers that contain five (5) or more spelling or glaring grammatical errors (fatal flaws) will be

automatically subject to a two (2) letter grade reduction, regardless of the quality of the content. Likewise, papers that

contain ten (10) or more spelling or glaring grammatical errors will automatically receive a grade of F.

Note: The Saunders Writing Center in Plant Hall is an excellent resource if you need writing assistance.

Paper is due by Midnight: Thursday, March 11th, 2021.