The 10% Physician Entrepreneur

If you have ever considered being a physician entrepreneur, you may feel it requires an all-in, 100% percent focus, which would mean leaving a full-time job.

A new book, The 10% Entrepreneur, by Patrick McGinnis, venture capitalist and founder of Dirigo Advisors, argues that all you need is 10% of your spare time to become an entrepreneur.

It might be time to tithe your time.

McGinnis thinks there are five kinds of entrepreneurs:

1. The angel investor.

2. An advisor who, instead of investing capital, invests your time for a stake.

3. A founder, operating something that you started on the side.

4. An aficionado, someone who combines his passion and want; it’s not necessarily 100% profit driven.

5. The final is the 110% entrepreneur, and that’s somebody who is already an entrepreneur and has made that big concentrated bet, and says, “I want to use 10% entrepreneurship to diversify myself, because I realize that entrepreneurship is high risk, and I want to have other things going on the side.”

I see it somewhat differently, and have categorized physician entrepreneurs as small business owners (private practitioners), intrapreneurs (employed physicians acting like entrepreneurs in their organizations), technopreneurs (getting a product to market), social entrepreneurs (trying to improve the human condition), service providers (helping other physician entrepreneurs get their ideas to patients or help provide other professional services), and physician investors.

Like McGinnis states, there are many ways physician entrepreneurs can practice entrepreneurship without quitting their day job or going "all in". Here are some things to consider:

1. 10 ways to get started as a physician entrepreneur

2. Practice Othercare, not Obamacare

3. Make it part of your 10/20/30 Plan

4. Participate in the sick care gig economy

5. Be careful about doctor funded startups

6. Intrapreneur's survival guide

7. What it takes to be a physician entrepreneur

8. 10 ways to reduce the switching costs to entrepreneurship

9. 10 myths about physician entrepreneurs

10. No. Physicians are not lousy business people.

Physician entrepreneurship is not an oxymoron or an either/or decision. For most doctors, it is an "and" decision. It will help your patients and make you a better doctor.