From Steve Jobs to Sir Richard Branson, Elon Musk to Ingvar Kamprad, it’s well-known that neurodiversities including dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism are over-represented among the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. Yet while many qualities often associated with an entrepreneurial mindset — such as creative problem-solving, determination (sometimes to the point of obstinacy), focus and a willingness to take risks — are also associated with some types of neurodiversity, that doesn’t mean it is an automatic head start in the race to join the global billionaires’ club.
When Richard Osborne, a Northamptonshire-based serial entrepreneur with autism spectrum disorder, started his first business, “I was like a recluse. I’d do anything to avoid going out and speaking to a customer. But now I understand the different personas that