I just came across this article on TechCrunch – an interesting question, and one on which I have some fairy strong views. Here are some of them:
I certainly believe Entrepreneurs can be made – or rather, that they make themselves. It's a choice that people make at some point in their lives – some make it early (and "start their entrepreneurial journey by selling lemonade while in grade school") others make it later, and some never make that choice.
As Wadhwa says in his article, it also has a lot to do with education – and that can be as low key as hanging out with people that like to build businesses, or copying things your family or peers do. Take a look at Richard Branson's "Losing my Virginity" – I don't think that he believes he was born an entrepreneur. Sure it needs a particular set of attitudes and desires (not the same set for everybody), but I've done enough work helping individuals and groups change their attitudes to know that these are definitely not fixed at birth.
Attitudes are changed by changing behaviours – not the other way around. Change a behaviour and keep doing it for long enough (not that long in reality) and your attitudes will change as well. Try to change your attitudes without changing behaviour and you'll have a real struggle on your hands.
Once the attitude is in place, then it’s just like anything else that people get good at – all there is to do is start practising, then practise some more, and then practise some more. Eventually all the practise will result in some success, and the people who didn’t notice you while you were practising will say “Oh! They must have been born that way!” (It’s one way they justify their own lack of success.)
A couple of books to check out that support Wadhwa's (and my) views on this – Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (of Tipping Point fame) and Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin.