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Why Startups Need To Define Failure First
Most entrepreneurs define success incorrectly and then never get there
Having been an entrepreneur for over two decades, I think about success a lot, but not in the way you might think.
I’m sure you’ve asked yourself what success means to you. And since we’re all adults here, I’m not going to waste your time with the rainbows-and-unicorns speech about chasing your dreams by starting your own business.
Because that speech is kind of a crock. Because most entrepreneurs — hell, most people for that matter — don’t define success right.
One of the mantras I push with Teaching Startup is the notion that the best advice you can get is the kind that leads you to be successful however you define success. A lot of folks nod their head back at me when I say something like that, but only half of them, maybe less, really understand what I’m talking about.
For the rest, they define success as some kind of windfall — it may be financial or it might be legacy-driven or it might even be solid altruism. They may not even know what it is. But whatever their reasons, they set a bar and then aim for that.
Here’s a dirty secret. Some of the most “successful” entrepreneurs I know don’t feel successful. They aimed at a…
