If you look at Asian corporations, you will find that most companies have founders and CEOs are one and the same, while in most Western companies, that may not necessarily be so.

Another thing you might notice is that mostly Asian founders start companies for keeps, and probably with the eye to have it manage by their heirs or children, while mostly Western companies are generally more open, and it is not unusual to start companies that are meant to be sold, or to sell companies if the price is good.

The distinction between the Entrepreneur and the manager is more distinct in Western companies, and an analogy is apt. Entrepreneurs create companies and managers manage them. In Asian context, you create companies and whether it is because it is difficult to find the right managers to manage them, or the founders want to manage them, you do have situations where the founders are mostly also the managers.

But it should be always helpful to point out that the entrepreneur (whether Asian or Western) do have a choice. Creating companies is like creating cars. The joy and rewards may be in creating the best cars, but also with the knowledge that other professional car drivers may race the cars better. Of course, you can be the mechanic and the car driver at the same time, but that does not necessarily have to be always the case.

And with business becoming more competitive, you should think that it IS becoming increasingly difficult for one to do both kinds of job and still be ahead ….