What is entrepreneurship
Scaling. Exit. Pivot. Lean. They are all the buzz in the world of entrepreneurs. All aspiring to be the next Elon, Mark or Jeff. Exacerbated by the enterprise agencies focussing on picking winners.
Picking winners
It doesn’t work. You can’t pick winners. It is about biology, mutation and statistics. Out of every 100, you get 1% of gazelles. Any 100. Pre-selection of startups does not work. I think picking winners ignore the backbone of an economy. It is not about the outliers on the outside of the bell curve. It should be about the SMEs, grounded in local communities, creating multigenerational wealth. Not 2-year plans but 100-year plans.
Picking you
It is refreshing for a book about entrepreneurship starting with “The world does not need you to become the next Elon Musk or Richard Branson – what it needs is you”. You are an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship as a life choice, a lifestyle, a philosophy, a religion even. The road less travelled. A passionate plea for liberation and freedom.
Similar books
A nicer version of The Obstacle is the Way, a fluffier version of Navy Seal Art of War and lessons similar to DO!
A passionate plea for entrepreneurship
It is another passionate plea to take the plunge. I couldn’t agree more. The future is entrepreneurship. Life is short; you might as well play as hard as you can. Perhaps it’s age, or perhaps I’ve learned to stop caring about whether something will work or not. You know what absolutely will not work? Not trying something because you are too scared. Guaranteed.
Matter
Do work that matters. So follow your gut, quit your job, and do whatever you feel you have to do. And become a lifestyle entrepreneur. Combining business with what you want out of life. There is nothing wrong with that. What is holding you back? Why stop growing? Why stop learning? Why live unfulfilled lives?
Lessons from the book
Lots of lessons (some glib, not less true):
- Learn how to play chess
- Pretend you are good at whatever you do (go forth and pretend)
- Momentum creates momentum
- There is no such thing as a four-hour workweek
- Time is the most important metric because it is a non-renewable resource
- Write down your fears, writing them down makes them look less scary
- Your ideas are worthless until they are not
- Feedback is not failure. Adjustment is not a defeat. It isn’t you that failed, it’s an idea – they are separate entities. Your idea is not you
- Perseverance is everything
- Complaining is not a strategy
- Enjoy the ride
- Appreciate what you accomplished
- Celebrate the wins and accept the losses
- Apply the 24-hour reset
- Become comfortable being uncomfortable.
- You will never have all the information,
- Determine your why
- Your growth will come from within
A wise lesson about failure
Failure and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. Failure is essential to success. There is a wise lesson in this: “There is a difference between failure and your struggle with failure. When a baby is learning to walk, they constantly fall over, but that doesn’t make them want to stop trying. They don’t think, ‘That’s it, I’m done with walking. I look stupid, everybody is laughing at me. I will just crawl from now on. As human beings, we are not naturally afraid of looking stupid or failing. We get educated that way. ”Remember there are no guarantees. “On the day I die, I’ll say at least I fucking tried. That’s the only eulogy I need.” – Frank Turner, Eulogy.
Take a shot
And the last part of the book is as impressive as the beginning. John Nastor:
- “But you know what? I take shots every day. Every. Day. Can I guarantee you will succeed? Nope, and even if I could, what would be the fun in that? I refuse to not try. I refuse to not fail. I refuse to sit on the sidelines. This is who I have become. This is how I play the game”.
- “Perhaps it’s age, or perhaps I’ve learned to stop caring about whether something will work or not. Do you know what absolutely will not work? Not trying something because you are too scared. Guaranteed”.
