Page 38 - 6 Secrets to Startup Success

True Believers 17

and again that we are an unfailingly polite species when asked for any
kind of evaluative feedback. In one intriguing study conducted by psy-
chologists Bella DePaulo and Kathy Bell in 1996, test subjects were
put in the difficult situation of critiquing an artist’s paintings for which
they had already privately expressed a dislike. They had never met
the artist or known of the artist’s work. Nearly everyone was hesitant
to say anything that might discourage the artist or give rise to hurt
feelings; the most blatant white lies coming from people who had been
told that the artist cared deeply about a particular painting.9

The upshot of this and other studies is that the more openly we
share our passion for our new venture, the more likely it is that we
will receive support and encouragement, not only from the usual sus-
pects—trusted friends and family—but from just about anyone who
can see our enthusiasm for the business idea. Lynn Ivey talked with
hundreds of people within and outside the senior care industry as she
formulated plans for The Ivey, and she found nearly universal support
for her concept for an upscale daycare center located in the Charlotte,
North Carolina, area. With a few exceptions (to be explored in later
chapters), “Your center will fill up in no time,” was the common re-
frain, she heard from industry professionals, investors, and old friends
alike.

THE WIDE WORLD OF MOTIVATION

It’s Saturday morning. You’ve decided to finally do something about
that gnawing feeling of settling for someone else’s dreams. Today is
the day you seize control. Coffee in hand, you flip open your laptop
and Google the word entrepreneurship. The first featured link at the
top of the page catches your eye. It reads “Easily Started Businesses.”
You click on it and see, in forty-point font:

RENEGADE PHYSICIST DISCOVERS 57 SECRET IDEAS
THAT COULD MAKE YOU RICH!

Welcome to the Motivational Media. If you haven’t fully con-
vinced yourself that your business idea has potential, or if you doubt
you can pull it off, just turn on the TV, open an entrepreneurial mag-

American Management Association • www.amanet.org