I think even true entrepreneurs go through nontrepreneurial phases.

I know someone who started and sold a company many years ago. In the past two years, he has started three "projects" all with the intention that they might become real companies. He met with failure on all three -- one for personal reasons, one for technical reasons, and one for business reasons.

To those who don't know his history -- but who do experience his regular and excited descriptions of the ideas he's "working on" -- he might seem exactly like a nontrepreneur.