Page 27 - 6 Secrets to Startup Success

6 6 SECRETS TO STARTUP SUCCESS

by the seemingly basic reasons most startups don’t make it. The more
closely I observed the early choices of would-be business owners, the
more clearly I could see the powerful, central role of human emotion.
I saw people obsessed with questionable business ideas. I saw founders
egged on by friends, family, and motivational speakers. I saw entre-
preneurs throwing themselves over the startup cliff without para-
chutes, sometimes without the merest idea of what they were getting
into. I saw impulsive decisions, rigidly held beliefs, wishful thinking,
and strategies of hope.

In time, I understood that passion fuels both startup success and
failure—not exactly an actionable formula you can take to the bank.
In the chapters ahead, you will learn how to cut through this apparent
contradiction and dramatically elevate your odds of entrepreneurial
success. But the first step is to understand what happens within and
around a person who approaches the new venture roller coaster. Why
is the startup path so compelling to so many? And what causes new
entrepreneurs to become emotionally attached to their new creations,
to literally fall in love with their ideas?

The Sparks of Entrepreneurial Ambition

Starting a new business uncorks strong emotions that have typically
built up over years or decades. Like the winding of an inner coil, an
aspiring entrepreneur’s early experiences pack potential energy
around an embryonic idea and lay the foundation for future startup
efforts. Early jobs, both good and bad, further seed entrepreneurial
ambitions and ideas. All of this builds toward the day when a founder
reaches his or her point of no return, where commitment to the new
venture becomes ironclad and all the stored passion and ambition is
unleashed.

EARLY FOUNDATIONS

Your preparation for entrepreneurship begins on the day you are
born, if not before. Starting a business is an intensely personal en-
deavor. You bring to it the total package of who you are—your per-

American Management Association • www.amanet.org