entreprenetwork
(awn.truh.pruh.NET.wurk)
n.
An informal association of entrepreneurs and freelance workers who provide each other with guidance, expertise, and contacts.
Example Citation:
Inner Circles and its cousins are what I call entreprenetworks. They're more formal than F.A.N. [Free Agent Nation] Clubs and usually more expensive. In some ways, they've become the chambers of commerce of Free Agent Nation. entreprenetworks are often less explicity social that their counterparts, but they operate and succeed by nearly identical values.
—Daniel Pink, Free Agent Nation, Warner Books, 2001
Earliest Citation:
EntrepreNetwork is a non-profit corporation funded by the Erwin, Martinkus, Cole & Ansel law firm. The corporation will serve as a resource for aspiring and current entrepreneurs to help promote their future business success through education, information and interaction with other local businesses.
—Kirsten Carlson, "Local firm sets up entrepreneur school," The Daily Illini, October 6, 1993
Notes:
Today's word is a blend of entrepreneur and network, with the latter having the sense of "an extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support." Entreprenetwork began its linguistic life as the name of a corporation (which, I believe, no longer exists).
