Page 44 - 6 Secrets to Startup Success

CHAPTER TWO

The Passion Trap

How Attachment to Your Idea Can
Sabotage Your Startup

“If you want a recipe for a startup that’s going to die, here it is: a couple
of founders who have some great idea they know everyone is going
to love, and that’s what they’re going to build, no matter what.”

—Paul Graham, founder, Y Combinator

According to Greek mythology, a boy named Icarus and his father,
Daedalus, were held as prisoners on the island of Crete with no pos-
sible route of escape by land or by sea. But Daedalus, a skilled crafts-
man and inventor, had developed a plan to escape through the air.
He secretly built wings for himself and Icarus, using reeds and feath-
ers held together by wax. As Daedalus attached the wings to his son’s
arms, he warned him to fly at the right altitude. If he flew too low,
the salt spray from ocean waves would soak his wings; if he flew too
high, the heat of the sun would cause them to melt.

After escaping the island by flying out over the sea, Icarus was ex-
hilarated by his newfound freedom. Despite his father’s warning cries,
he flew higher and higher, circling closer to the hot sun where the

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