What is a Serial Entrepreneur and is it a Good Thing?

Last week I wrote about social media bios and how it is a chance to shine, brag and sell yourself.  Well, today I want to talk about a term/phrase that I have seen in many bios across social media networks, “serial entrepreneur.”  Every time I see the term, I wonder what does that really mean and is it a good thing.  Does this person habitually start random businesses?  What kind of businesses?  Are they successful?  Why do you need to create so many?  It seemed a bit obsessive compulsive to me and like the mark of a serial failure; that is, until I looked the term up.

It turns out that a serial entrepreneur is a person that successfully comes up with new ideas for a business; starts them; and once they have met some measure of success, sells them and repeats the process.  Basically it is the complete opposite of a serial failure.  It reminds me a bit of house flippers.  People that buy houses, rehab/remodel them and sell them again at a profit.  When I think of it in this way, the term makes more sense and seems more like a positive.  However, I do wonder just how many of those bios hold truth in the self-applied term, “serial entrepreneur.”  How many of them were actually successful?

Although I can see how the term can be a positive one, I do wonder about possible negative connotations.  For instance, “serial” implies many and I have to wonder what fate befell the consumers of the businesses, after they were sold or the person moved on to their next venture.  Are they still involved and if so, in what way?  The entrepreneur may have the Midas touch when it comes to starting businesses, but it may turn to crap for consumers in the long term.  I have experienced a change in performance and/or customer service in a negative way when a small entity is bought by a larger entity.  I have also experienced the reverse, in which things improved and they became a better company overall.  Is there a vetting process that a serial entrepreneur goes through when selling their business; or do most sell to the highest bidder?

Are you a serial entrepreneur?  Tell me your experience!