Signs of entrepreneurial talent are cues for curiosity, not a diagnosis and not a caste stamp.
Tests measure a sample already shaped by teaching and invitation. False positives are part of the identification problem.
Early cues
- 3–6 — Gap talk — Names a missing offer.
- 7–9 — Means inventory — Starts from what is on hand.
- 10–13 — Sells once — A real stranger pays.
- 14–17 — Stops a bad idea — Quit talent.
- Adult — Late second life — A firm after another job.
Tests & tasks
- Sell a small thing this week — The honest sample.
- Means map — Sarasvathy homework.
- Personality quiz — Soft, skip as ID.
- Pitch theatre only — A genre.
Environments
- A real customer — Not a classroom judge.
- Bookkeeping — The unromantic instrument.
- A partner who can say no — Team.
- Local law literacy — Context.
False positives
- Hero podcast — Survivor bias.
- Follower count — Creator ≠ firm.
- Family money as vision — Access.
- National hustle gene — Refused.
Entrepreneurial talent: a cue is information. A label without a review date is a caste.