Idiosyncratic psychological aspects in entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is having the courage to transform an idea in reality and with it achieve personal, financial and recognition satisfaction. The psychological ability to handle failure has proven essential in success. Goal: Analyse the importance of idiosyncratic psychological aspects in the success of entrepreneurs. Method: Observational study, using a case study, a group of 20 entrepreneurs from the idea presentation phase to company incorporation during a period of two months. Results: During the observation period 4 distinct psychological phases of the entrepreneurs were observed, being it possible to describe them as follows: absorption of information and knowledge; application of the gathered knowledge to their specific cases; frustration generated by criticism, namely from investors who don’t recognize the value of their projects; realism and implementation of the project. Having passed more than 6 months after the analysis period, one can verify the entrepreneurs who have travelled the 4 phases and specially reached the realism of Phase 4, are today developing their projects being that the remaining ones, majority of which weren’t able to overcome Phase 3, are in a similar situation as at the end of the initial two months. Conclusion: The ability to cope with frustration and rejection is a determinant factor in the success of the entrepreneur. The ability to learn from rejection, more than resilience help the entrepreneur to proceed. Therefore, based on the observations, entrepreneurship has a lot to gain if besides technical assistance also coaching assistance is provided.

Idiosyncratic psychological aspects in entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is having the courage to transform an idea in reality and with it achieve personal, nancial and recognition satisfaction. The psychological ability to handle failure has proven essential in success. We analysed the importance of idiosyncratic psychological aspects in the success of entrepreneurs through an observational study accompanying 20 entrepreneurs from the idea presentation phase to company incorporation. During the observation period 4 distinct psychological phases of the entrepreneurs were observed, being it possible to describe them as follows: absorption of information and knowledge; application of the gathered knowledge to their speci c cases; frustration generated by criticism, namely from investors who didn’t recognise the value of their projects; realism and implementation of the project. Having passed more than 6 months after the analysis period, one can verify that the entrepreneurs who have travelled the 4 phases are today developing their projects being that the remaining ones are in a similar situation as at the end of the initial two months. Conclusion: The ability to cope with frustration and rejection is a determinant factor in the success of the entrepreneur. The ability to learn from rejection, more than resilience help the entrepreneur to proceed.

Optimization of ultrasound-assisted extraction to obtain mycosterols from Agaricus bisporus L. by response surface methodology and comparison with conventional Soxhlet extraction

Ergosterol, a molecule with high commercial value, is the most abundant mycosterol in Agaricus bisporus L. To replace common conventional extraction techniques (e.g. Soxhlet), the present study reports the optimal ultrasound-assisted extraction conditions for ergosterol. After preliminary tests, the results showed that solvents, time and ultrasound power altered the extraction efficiency. Using response surface methodology, models were developed to investigate the favourable experimental conditions that maximize the extraction efficiency. All statistical criteria demonstrated the validity of the proposed models. Overall, ultrasound-assisted extraction with ethanol at 375 W during 15 min proved to be as efficient as the Soxhlet extraction, yielding 671.5 ± 0.5mg ergosterol/100 g dw. However, with n-hexane extracts with higher purity (mg ergosterol/g extract) were obtained. Finally, it was proposed for the removal of the saponification step, which simplifies the extraction process and makes it more feasible for its industrial transference.