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60 6 SECRETS TO STARTUP SUCCESS

In the case of Tim Ferris, author of the best-selling book The 4-Hour
Workweek and father of a worldwide movement of “lifestyle design,”6
it’s clear that he has put in herculean hours and effort in promoting
his book, building his brand, and marketing his image across the
world. In mastering any profession or a craft, the appearance of a rad-
ical shortcut is usually illusory. If it seems too good to be true, it usu-
ally is. Achieving your ideal lifestyle will likely require tough choices
and sacrifices.

SOCIAL/COMMUNITY – Some founders are driven to entrepreneurship
because they want to work with friends, be part of a great team, meet
new and interesting people, or create a vibrant community of co-
workers, customers, or colleagues. J.C. Faulkner launched D1, in part,
because he wanted to create a better place to work. “My motivation
was more personal than professional,” he said. “I wanted to build a
place where I could attract talented people and treat them better than
they’d ever been treated and where I felt better about working. I
would have taken a cut in pay to do this. In fact, I thought I was taking
a cut in pay.”

The instinct to start a business with friends or family is as old as
commerce itself, and it’s common for founders to end up on startup
teams because friends recruited them into the role. I worked for many
years with a successful and superbly led global consulting firm that
grew out of the collegial friendships among its three founders. For the
most part, they saw working with each other and having fun together
as the primary reason for joining together in a business. In this case,
the founders’ social motivations served the venture well, contributing
to trust-based relationships and alliances inside and outside of the
business.

The inherent risk associated with starting a business with friends
has been well chronicled. Just because you like a person or went to
school with that person doesn’t mean he or she is a good fit for the
business you are launching. I’ve enjoyed healthy business partnerships
with close friends, but, in every case, the business relationship made
sense and worked well independently of social factors.

American Management Association • www.amanet.org