User technical entrepreneur
Where Jones-Evans breaks new ground is in identifying two further categories of technical entrepreneur. The first of these he calls the user technical entrepreneur. In this context the term ‘user’ is used to denote the fact that the entrepreneur had a background in marketing/sales or product support. Such a role would therefore be likely to bring him of her into direct contact with consumers. In fact, half of the user entrepreneur in Jones-Evens(1995) sample had a background in marketing/sales. The strong connection to marketing/sales helps to give credence to the notion of innovation as a demand-pull process in which consumer needs provide the stimulus to innovation. Individuals who work in marketing/sales are likely to be very familiar with consumer needs and consumer requirements. This knowledge can act as both a spur to innovation and a trigger to the decision to set up an independent business. Obviously the user technical entrepreneur stands in sharp contrast to the two previous categories of technical entrepreneur. Whereas they have what might be described as a ‘supply side’ perspective, the user technical entrepreneur in contrast has clear ‘demand side’ perspective. This perspective can be particularly valuable when one is dealing with the diffusion of a generic technology. Under these circumstances, new applications are likely to take the form of specialist applications developed for very specific market niches. In the development of such market niches, detailed knowledge of the consumer is likely to be at a premium. Such knowledge is likely to be informal and tacit and the sort of knowledge that those in marketing/sales will possess. Furthermore, if the product in question has a significant technology input then marketing staff may well have a good knowledge of the generic technology.