Page 78 - 6 Secrets to Startup Success

Founder Readiness 57

it,” see a better way of doing something, want to do work of highest
quality, want to stretch, learn, and get better—all these are positive
signs for the future of your new business. The drive to achieve is one
of the most potent and lasting motivators because it comes from
within, can be focused on the concrete steps vital to advancing a
startup, and isn’t easily weakened by challenge or adversity.

The early days of a startup can be frustrating for achievement-
driven founders because many important tasks and activities don’t
lead directly to measurable outcomes. Given that paying customers
may not be a reality for some time, the more clearly you can define
what constitutes meaningful progress, the more your drive to show
progress can be directed in fruitful and satisfying directions. In Chap-
ter Five, I’ll share ideas for clarifying goals and priorities early in your
startup process.

FINANCIAL GAIN/WEALTH – You may view starting a business as the
best way to earn a good living or as the road to wealth creation. This
latter ambition is often a special case of the drive to achieve, where
money functions as a way of keeping score and a means to other ends.
Even after financially driven entrepreneurs have earned more money
than they and their families will ever need, they continue to be lured
by the great game of commerce and the thrill of the deal. In the eyes
of venture investors, this drive toward financial success is usually a
positive sign. As Chris Holden of Court Square Ventures notes,
“Those who are most motivated by a return on their personal sweat
equity and the risks that they took, the money that they raised, and
their own money that they put in it, those are the ones who are most
willing to adapt to changing conditions, and be transparent, and to
not care about being liked or how they look. . . . They don’t let any-
thing get in the way of their real goal, which is to succeed.” Chris’s
experience is supported by a Kauffman Foundation study published
in June 2009, examining the personalities and motivations of 549 suc-
cessful startup founders across a range of industries. Seventy-five
percent of these founders “expressed a desire to build wealth as an
important motivation in becoming an entrepreneur.”4

Bringing realistic financial expectations to your startup journey

American Management Association • www.amanet.org