Big Red Car here. It is freakin’ cold in the ATX. It is 32F and it feels like 25F. We are hot house Texas tomatoes. We are not this tuff. Please, God, deliver us from this evil.
Hell, ain’t nothing for a climber. Brrrrr!
So The Boss hears a damn good sermon at church on Sunday that gets him thinking about several subjects. One of them is the privilege y’all receive as entrepreneurs. Let’s talk about it.
Not everyone can be or should be an entrepreneur. It is not for anyone. Today we seem to be setting a standard that if entrepreneurship is not burning a hole in your chest each and every day there is something wrong with you.
There is not. Whoa, Nellie, some people are much happier and better suited and talented for other things. In fact, MOST people are not going to be entrepreneurs which sets up the following thoughts.
If you are an entrepreneur — entrepreneur, founder, CEO — you already know you are afflicted with a very rare malady. You know this!
[You were the guy last night pretending to watch the Oscars while thinking about the terms of the convertible note offer you received on Thursday. You are the perfect little redhead thinking about the color of the embroidery stitches on your product which is going to the sewers next week. You pretend to be engaged with life but you are living your dream and your startup 24/7. You don’t know why everyone else isn’t doing the same thing and you DON’T want to hear — it’s because they have real lives. But I digress, excuse me. Haha, you know who you are.]
But you are also blessed with the followership of the many people who are rooting for your success. Your pocketbook and your investors are rooting for your success but they’re just cheerleaders, aren’t they? Some of them will love you even if you fail — bad news, about 75% of you will fail. Sorry. That’s the measure of your sickness. You are the ones who are unafraid to bounce a basketball through a minefield because you want it so bad.
Worse news — this is perfectly normal. You are very, very, very sick. You are also wonderful and extraordinary and your own person. Celebrate it but medicate it.
Your partners, your employees have invested not just their human capital in you but also their belief that your Vision, Mission, Strategy, Tactics, Objectives, Values and Culture have now become theirs. They are your Apostles and it is your privilege to be entrusted with their lives and livelihoods.
Step back and think about each of them. They are here because of YOU. It is an awesome privilege and it is an awesome responsibility.
Do not treat it lightly. Get up early, stay late, work your ass off and every morning be ready to go hand to hand with the bear waiting at your desk.
Being an entrepreneur is a privilege. Entrepreneurial privilege!
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. This is going to be a great week.
