ABSTRACT
Their backgrounds. Most of the entrepreneurs we interviewed did not come from families that had owned businesses. Most of these individuals came to America without any intentions of starting a business. But becoming stranded exiles changed their intentions. Stranded students and first-wave refugees had three options for personal survival. One option was to work one or two full-time minimum-wage jobs. A second option was to start one or more small businesses. A third was to work a full-time job and operate a part-time business. 1 Many students and refugees chose to work full-time jobs and operate part-time businesses, to live above the subsistence level.
