The cynic in me wants to see another article about 7 entrepreneurs whose dogged determination in following something that turned out to be wrong led to despair and ruin.
I'd like to see that too. Those would probably be far more useful examples to compare to the plethora of "he stuck it through and was awesome later". I think there are lots of people that get stuck in the equivalent of "I'm a waiter now, but just waiting for my big break" sort of thing for decades in acting/music/startup thing.
I find these type of stories to be useless, because it doesn't separate the difference between "those that stuck to it and made it" and those that "stuck to it and mired in limbo" While both luck and skills play into it, a lot of people lean too heavily on luck and not enough time developing their skills. I think it's important to be persistent, but persistent so you get better at what you do. Be undeniably good, so all it takes is a little luck, not a lot of luck.
Ironically, there's a demotivational poster that says "If all it takes is a pretty picture and a cute little saying to inspire you, then your job is what robots will be doing soon. Real soon."
Interesting how so many of them in this list share the characteristic of being fired from one job or another. Most innovative types don't seem to work so well in stringent environments, or what I like to think of as the SJ mentality of "management by suffocation."
Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Larry Ellison, and lots of other people known for using their charisma to motivate other seem to be doing ok despite their, "empty fuel tank."
It takes a lot to be a successful entrepreneur. The article focuses on perseverance whereas the original comment mentions charisma. And there are many more, including availability of money.
My experience is that charismatic entrepreneur can accomplish a lot with very little money (hence empty gas tank) if he/she has the right vision and the ability to organize and motivate (hence fume which by the way is incredibly combustible).
Ok. Sorry for being a smartass, I totally didn't see your comment as meaning that at first. From first reading it seemed something some smug prep-school-bred i-banker would say when being dismissive.
"Great Failures" would be an interesting book or article.
There are a lot more inventors and entrepreneurs who struggled for years, successfully produced great things, and then failed to make a dime or achieve any notoriety. They should get more mention. Philo Farnsworth? John Fitch? These guys invested huge chunks of their lives but got nothing.
I suspect detailing what failure looks like is probably more inspiring than all this focus on the payoff. Everyone already knows the "happily ever after" ending. It's the less explored unhappy ending that that holds people back.
As someone who has failed spectacularly in my previous startups, I can say with authority that failure sucks. There is nothing inspiring about failure (by itself).
However, I think what is inspiring is how entrepreneurs who have failed managed to get themselves off the floor and eventually achieve success. And I do agree we don't talk enough about recovery from failures.
I would say there is one good thing about failure. To paraphrase an observation I've heard about why wrestling is one of the better sports to take up in high school: it teaches you to fight with all you have off of your back when you're literally inches away from defeat and get back up again and again and again as many times as it takes, and that's important because if there's one thing life is good at it's knocking you on your back.
So I would say this: between you and some "I've always had easy successes" entrepreneur in Silicon Valley who's had the benefit of every possible advantage, who do you think learned to conserve energey, restart, take it step by step, stick to simple plans one day at time, shake off the blues, etc. - you, or pretty boy success story?
Now who do you think will keep pushing in the economic funk we'll be experiencing for the next 4-6 years and who do you think will be in shock and quit when they realize that things have suddenly gotten much, much harder?
I'd say your failures have taught you how to function and continue despite setbacks. That is valuable because failures are inevitable. If your "failure overcoming muscle" has atrophied due to experiencing nothing but success, it's going to be very tough times ahead.
If you can deal with failure and keep going, then that means you've proven you have a strong mind - strong enough not to be shaken, strong enough to pick yourself up and keep going despite no constant positive feedback.
If I was a VC, I'd probably invest in you more than somebody who had 3 successes during an economic boom.
I suppose "inspiring" isn't the right word, but I think a better understanding of what failure looks like and its statistical frequency is important. Behavioral psychology says most people are far more motivated by fear than by greed. I suspect the unknown is worse than what really happens in failure. Well, except for John Fitch; he blew his brains out.
I agree 100%. Most entrepreneurs that I know are definitely driven by fear ... fear of letting themselves down, fear of being accused of misleading their team members so they better make this one work, fear of not delivering a working product to their alpha customer who has placed a PO and who happens to be their friend, fear of not returning reasonable upside to their VC's so their reputation might be ruined irreversibly in the valley. And most importantly of all, fear of going home facing their spouse and having to explain (again). Fear is definitely much more immediate than greed (money).
