While researching the topic of myth and legend as it relates to business origins, I stumbled across this insightful article by Dartmouth professor Pino Audia:
By providing an inaccurate portrayal of the process by which many individuals become entrepreneurs, the legend of the garage entrepreneur offers the wrong lessons. Perhaps the greatest danger is that the legend inculcates an undersocialized view of the entrepreneurial process. The legend of the entrepreneur’s garage evokes the image of the lone individual who relies primarily on his/her extraordinary efforts and talent to overcome the difficulties inherent in creating a new organization. In contrast, the process of creating new organizations is eminently social. Social relations help would-be entrepreneurs not only to garner the support needed to form the new business, but also to identify the entrepreneurial opportunities on which new businesses can be built.
- Pino G. Audia, A Garage and an Idea: What More Does an Entrepreneur Need? (PDF)