Everyone should try being an entrepreneur to realise how hard it is to build something from nothing. Whilst I am a big fan of entrepreneurial success (building companies like Facebook on first attempt deserves huge praise and admiration), many valuable lessons can also be learned from entrepreneurial failures.
A while back I tried my hand in starting a company and found it hard, thrilling, and enlightening. Now, I like hiring people in our venture team who have started a company, regardless of the outcome. Because most start-ups fail. However, they provide a great deal of unique lessons:
🛣 To respect the difficulty of an entrepreneurial journey - there is nothing quite similar in the corporate world where most people get their training, the pace of change and sense of accountability is intense. The buck stops with you
🤝 To build empathy for the entrepreneur’s daily struggles - makes it easier to relate to founders and all their ongoing problems. You know their journey is fraught with challenges and you learn to listen better and hopefully advise where appropriate
🚀 To realise how strong mission and motivation enable cash-strapped companies to win against all odds – small laser-focused mission-driven teams can accelerate execution and innovation by orders of magnitude and build something large incumbents struggle to e.g., OpenAI v large incumbent dynamic
Whilst lots of people like talent with operating experience, I love people with entrepreneurial experience of one form or another. It also teaches you that founder DNA is unique and worth celebrating and supporting. And failures need to be as respected and celebrated as those rare wins that fill the columns of Time and Forbes magazines.
Any entrepreneurials failures (and successes) you care to share? 🙂
#foundermode #venturecapital #daretodream #founderempathy
