Page 12 - 6 Secrets to Startup Success

Introduction

“If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.”
—Benjamin Franklin, American statesman
and entrepreneur

You have always dreamed of skydiving, imagining yourself in a free
fall, high above the earth, parachute ready to open with the pull of a
rip cord.

One day you decide to give it a try. You drive to the local airport
and quickly spot the skydiving center at the edge of a wide airfield,
far across a parking lot packed with cars. Along the facility’s roof are
towering letters of blinking red and yellow neon: Skydive Today. You
Can Do It. Do Not Delay!

You follow a throng of people into the center, where a clerk ex-
plains the two options available. The “Basic Option” includes a train-
ing program where you will pack your own parachute, with instructor
oversight, and learn safety and operational procedures before board-
ing a plane for your maiden jump. The fee is $250, and there will be
a two-hour wait before the training begins. The clerk points to a thin
line of customers who are checking cell phones, reading newspapers,
and talking quietly among themselves.

But there is also an “Express Option,” priced at only $75. For this
price, you can grab a pre-packed parachute assembly and hop aboard
one of the many express flights without delay. The clerk says that you
“should have time” during the plane’s ascent to figure out how to op-

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