Page 95 - 6 Secrets to Startup Success

74 6 SECRETS TO STARTUP SUCCESS

and support. Don’t underestimate the positive impact on your entre-
preneurial performance that family support will bring or the added
stress and strain that will arise if these issues go unexamined and un-
addressed.

TIME AVAILABILITY AND COMMITMENT – What current commitments of
your time, other than your new venture, will remain in place? How many hours
per week will be available for you to pursue your startup opportunity? How
many hours per week do you expect to spend on this venture?

The implications here are simple. Getting a new business off the
ground takes time, a lot more time than most founders ever imagine.
It always looks simpler on the back of a napkin than in everyday life.
Your ability to drive your startup forward will strongly correlate to
how much time and focus you can give to it. Paul Graham said it best,
“Most founders of failed startups don’t quit their day jobs, and most
founders of successful ones do. If startup failure was a disease, the
CDC would be issuing bulletins warning people to avoid day jobs.”12

Realistically, many people are not in situations that allow them to
put all of their time into getting their big idea off the ground, at least
not initially. Some founders would rather be part-time entrepreneurs
for lifestyle reasons. And your time availability will be driven partly
by the first two domains: your income needs and your family circum-
stances. But understand that the amount of time you devote will im-
pact how quickly you grow your business, what you need from other
partners and stakeholders, and, ultimately, how you define and achieve
success as an entrepreneur.

HEALTH AND PERSONAL CAPACITY – What is the status of your physical/
emotional health? How do you develop and sustain your capacity for productive
work (e.g., exercise, nutrition, social and spiritual pursuits, etc.)?

During more than a decade of working closely with senior exec-
utives to evaluate and improve their performance, I found that many
of my clients had hit a wall of fatigue, stress, and resignation. They
admitted that years of sixty- and seventy-hour workweeks had left
them depleted. They were clearly not bringing their best selves to
their work, but they saw no easy way out. The pipeline of challenges
continued to flow at them with no break in sight.

American Management Association • www.amanet.org