The qualities of a successful entrepreneur - Inspiration (5/11)
Translation of Mark Custer’s fifth post from a series about the qualities of a successful entrepreneur (previous posts: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ).
__________
This is part of my new series of posts on what makes an entrepreneur successful . Originally, I published them on the VentureHacks site, one of my favorite sites for entrepreneurs. If you have not been there, then you should go.
')
The series began with a conversation about what I consider the most important quality: persistence . The following posts were devoted to practical acumen , ability to change course and sustainability .
Many asked about the difference between perseverance and sustainability. For me, perseverance is “pushing forward.” These are the things that you push through, where you never take the no as the answer. Resilience, on the other hand, is the ability to withstand strikes while continuing the battle. Want to understand what is sustainability? Watch the great 46-second video from Rocky . Anyone who has already been an entrepreneur will tell you that at the very beginning, success essentially comes down to pure survival. Much also depends on luck and the right choice of the moment.
It is known that to be stubborn up to stubbornness, not possessing a practical grip that allows you to notice when market conditions begin to change, and to “change course” in time, is the path to defeat. In my opinion, this is why PalmPilot missed the moment when a tendency towards the development of E-mail was observed, and RIM (BlackBerry) tracked this trend. In turn, Blackberry missed the development of the Internet and after so many years still has a mediocre browser.
So persistence with resilience is not enough. All qualities of an entrepreneur must play together.
Toby Murdoch told an interesting story in the comments to the last post (spelling errors corrected):
Many entrepreneurs struggle with their failures. Many are offended by investors or circumstances. Some “give in to a couple” and react the way Toby did. I bet that the leadership he showed helped the business angel to understand that Toby deserves support.
Some blog readers also noted that “changing course” can be destructive for company employees. The same applies to permanent employment and dismissal - a natural “turnover” at an early stage of business. It's true. But here comes the next quality of a successful entrepreneur.
5. Inspiration / Leadership . As an entrepreneur, you constantly feel the lack of resources. You want to hire a cool development team, but you have not yet received enough investment. You want to take on a key marketer from Google, but he gets good money that you have nothing to oppose. You want to find someone who introduces you to Ron Conway so that he can grasp your company with his impeccable reputation by making an investment like a business angel. For most entrepreneurs, these are almost impossible things. And only by perseverance you will not take it. In fact, unsophisticated persistence is often annoying, and with added inspiration and charm can be motivating.
Entrepreneurs often show me slides with the names of people who are going to join their team as soon as investment is received. I usually jokingly answer: “Maybe you are not an entrepreneur?”. It always makes people wince.
I say: “Listen, almost every successful entrepreneur whom I have seen has an“ extraordinary ”quality that people celebrate. It is clear that those whom you want to see in your team are sitting in their warm places in world-famous companies and are not at all going to risk joining you. But if they happen to meet the right entrepreneur, they will think: “I need to go after him. In my opinion, it will be a huge success, and I don’t want to miss this opportunity. ”
These are the best entrepreneurs. Next to them, you seem to be infected. They are passionate about business, confident in their future success and actively striving to achieve it. Of course, they also have doubts when they are alone looking at themselves in the mirror, but in the office this cannot be said for them. You should know that for every slide with people who will join you after attracting investments, I can find an example of a company that actually put together a team, having no more funds in your bank account than you have .
When I watch presentations, I often catch myself thinking: “Can this person inspire others?” Inspiration is very important, not even because it is necessary for recruiting a team and taking leadership in it, but for clients to work with you, although from a position of common sense they should not have done so. There is less money on your bank account than enough for 6 months, and the product is still far from ready. But customers have confidence that you will break through, even if they themselves do not realize it. TechCrunch will cover you. They will not, for so far you are a more myth than reality. But they feel your trajectory. Their sixth sense says that you will successfully overcome all difficulties.
Inspiration is of great importance in business. And in life. Watch the movie “The Unbowed” (Invictus) - see what I mean.
_________
Previous translations of this series:
1. Perseverance .
2. Practical grip .
3. Ability to change course .
4. Sustainability .
__________
This is part of my new series of posts on what makes an entrepreneur successful . Originally, I published them on the VentureHacks site, one of my favorite sites for entrepreneurs. If you have not been there, then you should go.
')
The series began with a conversation about what I consider the most important quality: persistence . The following posts were devoted to practical acumen , ability to change course and sustainability .
Many asked about the difference between perseverance and sustainability. For me, perseverance is “pushing forward.” These are the things that you push through, where you never take the no as the answer. Resilience, on the other hand, is the ability to withstand strikes while continuing the battle. Want to understand what is sustainability? Watch the great 46-second video from Rocky . Anyone who has already been an entrepreneur will tell you that at the very beginning, success essentially comes down to pure survival. Much also depends on luck and the right choice of the moment.
It is known that to be stubborn up to stubbornness, not possessing a practical grip that allows you to notice when market conditions begin to change, and to “change course” in time, is the path to defeat. In my opinion, this is why PalmPilot missed the moment when a tendency towards the development of E-mail was observed, and RIM (BlackBerry) tracked this trend. In turn, Blackberry missed the development of the Internet and after so many years still has a mediocre browser.
So persistence with resilience is not enough. All qualities of an entrepreneur must play together.
Toby Murdoch told an interesting story in the comments to the last post (spelling errors corrected):
... my last startup was the initial investment from a mega-successful business angel ... [but] they did not invest in the third tranche ... I was going to get out of business, but still stuck there, it was extremely difficult for us to get investments from someone else. We got into a puddle. My imagination was drawing pictures, how I would not be able to pay the mortgage debt and we will have to move out with my wife and children.
When I heard the bad news, I tried to remind myself that the hang in the negative never helps and that in fact any blow to the head provides the motivation to avoid it. Therefore, instead of being frightened and squeezing to the end of that meeting, I gave “full speed” and populated it with stories about our progress and the direction we are going. He ... said his foundation will actively help us get the next round of funding.
... Soon after, the angel returned, in the framework of a larger round, without any tranches, with new investors wishing to get involved. In the end, everything ended with the successful sale of the company ... so that entrepreneurship is not that cool, it is brutal. It is necessary to push forward, regardless of blows to the head ... such failures are just a natural part of the process, and the key element here is just how you react to them.
Many entrepreneurs struggle with their failures. Many are offended by investors or circumstances. Some “give in to a couple” and react the way Toby did. I bet that the leadership he showed helped the business angel to understand that Toby deserves support.
Some blog readers also noted that “changing course” can be destructive for company employees. The same applies to permanent employment and dismissal - a natural “turnover” at an early stage of business. It's true. But here comes the next quality of a successful entrepreneur.
5. Inspiration / Leadership . As an entrepreneur, you constantly feel the lack of resources. You want to hire a cool development team, but you have not yet received enough investment. You want to take on a key marketer from Google, but he gets good money that you have nothing to oppose. You want to find someone who introduces you to Ron Conway so that he can grasp your company with his impeccable reputation by making an investment like a business angel. For most entrepreneurs, these are almost impossible things. And only by perseverance you will not take it. In fact, unsophisticated persistence is often annoying, and with added inspiration and charm can be motivating.
Entrepreneurs often show me slides with the names of people who are going to join their team as soon as investment is received. I usually jokingly answer: “Maybe you are not an entrepreneur?”. It always makes people wince.
I say: “Listen, almost every successful entrepreneur whom I have seen has an“ extraordinary ”quality that people celebrate. It is clear that those whom you want to see in your team are sitting in their warm places in world-famous companies and are not at all going to risk joining you. But if they happen to meet the right entrepreneur, they will think: “I need to go after him. In my opinion, it will be a huge success, and I don’t want to miss this opportunity. ”
These are the best entrepreneurs. Next to them, you seem to be infected. They are passionate about business, confident in their future success and actively striving to achieve it. Of course, they also have doubts when they are alone looking at themselves in the mirror, but in the office this cannot be said for them. You should know that for every slide with people who will join you after attracting investments, I can find an example of a company that actually put together a team, having no more funds in your bank account than you have .
When I watch presentations, I often catch myself thinking: “Can this person inspire others?” Inspiration is very important, not even because it is necessary for recruiting a team and taking leadership in it, but for clients to work with you, although from a position of common sense they should not have done so. There is less money on your bank account than enough for 6 months, and the product is still far from ready. But customers have confidence that you will break through, even if they themselves do not realize it. TechCrunch will cover you. They will not, for so far you are a more myth than reality. But they feel your trajectory. Their sixth sense says that you will successfully overcome all difficulties.
Inspiration is of great importance in business. And in life. Watch the movie “The Unbowed” (Invictus) - see what I mean.
_________
Previous translations of this series:
1. Perseverance .
2. Practical grip .
3. Ability to change course .
4. Sustainability .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/84193/
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