Page 59 - Entrepreneur-November 2018

origin that may one day even the contract,” he says. More than financial acumen. of the same world that thrives
be celebrated, like how Steve This is also how Hirshberg More than great marketing. with at least a certain level of
Jobs famously faked his way of Stonyfield Farm sees his own It’s just absolute determina- getting away with some decep-
through the first iPhone demo circumstance. Rather than tion, and as a corollary, believ- tion.” And he says creative peo-
at Macworld even though the lying, he was creating an oppor- ing in yourself when no one ple—the kind of fast-thinking,
device itself was a buggy mess. tunity he knew he could fulfill. else does.” If they went out of big-dreaming people who often
But here’s a question the True, he didn’t have a bank or business, lots of people would become entrepreneurs—tend
entrepreneurship community his investors on board with his lose. He was determined for to lie more than others. The
has been struggling with for plan. But he knew a banker that that to not happen. The lie was truth, he says, is that people in
centuries: Is it OK to lie? And was interested in his brand and worth it, he says. It was just an business expect some kind of
when does a lie go too far? figured that if the SBA seemed entrepreneur doing what was transactional lie—whether it’s
It’s tricky, because most on board, the bank and inves- necessary. from a job applicant, a potential
entrepreneurs don’t see tors would follow. And that’s Not everyone is going to partner, or someone else. “The
their deceptions as lies at all. what happened. “It’s OK as long accept this. Purists will surely system is encouraging at least
Hirshberg doesn’t. “I mean, as you ultimately do deliver,” say Hirshberg and Byrne and some form of fact distortion,
look—you beg, borrow, steal, Hirshberg says. others are just liars justify- and rewards it,” he says. “If you
stretch. You do what’s neces- But context is also import- ing their actions. But Tomas ask an interviewee if they enjoy
sary,” he says today. In truth, ant, he thinks. If entrepreneurs Chamorro-Premuzic, a profes- working with others and they
the editors of Entrepreneur lie for the sake of lying, or for sor of business psychology at say, ‘Most of the time I don’t,’
can get drawn into this logic. their own personal gain, that’s University College London and they won’t get brownie points
Just recently, this magazine a problem. But what if it’s for Columbia University, who has for being honest. You’ll say,
ran a series of articles on boot- a common good? Consider his written about lying in entre- ‘This guy is antisocial.’ ”
strapping, which featured a plight, he says: Stonyfield Farm preneurship, thinks they’re So what’s an entrepreneur
number of stories about entre-
preneurs stretching the truth.
One of them, for example, was
about Anthony Byrne, the CEO THE BRANDS THAT PEOPLE TRUST ARE CREATED
of a Dublin-based company AND RUN AND OWNED BY CULTURES THAT RESPECT THE
called Product2Market. In the
startup’s early days, Microsoft CUSTOMER,” SAYS PROFESSOR TOMAS CHAMORRO-
considered hiring it but first PREMUZIC. “LONG-TERM FOCUS REQUIRES HONESTY.”
wanted to conduct a site visit to
make sure Product2Market had
the necessary manpower. In
reality, it didn’t. So in advance may have been small at the time, onto something. to do? Simple, says Chamorro-
of Microsoft’s site visit, Byrne but it was employing people “If you can somehow mea- Premuzic: Treat lying as a tool
brought friends, family, and and supporting their families. sure harm to others, that is the to be used in very particular
neighbors into his office, hav- Hirshberg’s wife was pregnant, limit,” Chamorro-Premuzic moments. It cannot result in
ing them pose as employees to and his mother-in-law and other says. He believes most entrepre- harm to individuals. It must
make his startup seem twice family and friends had put sig- neurs tell lies when they think lead to an opportunity you can
its size. It worked. Microsoft nificant money into the com- the falsehoods will do no harm. genuinely succeed in. And very
signed on. pany. He’d tried repeatedly to Had Hirshberg failed to get critically, it cannot become a
After that story ran, an save it by more direct means. He bank financing, the SBA simply foundation you build on with
Entrepreneur reader emailed even found a potential manu- wouldn’t have offered the loan other lies. “The brands that
an objection. “I don’t think the facturer that promised to step in guarantee. Had Byrne been people trust, the products that
magazine should be promot- and help—but at the last second, caught, his deal with Microsoft people trust, clearly are created
ing people who got ahead by the manufacturer tried changing would have fallen through. and run and owned by cultures
lying as an example for others the contract to steal the brand They were largely victimless that respect the customer,”
to follow,” he wrote. But Byrne away. crimes, wasting little more than he says. “Long-term focus
doesn’t think of his action as Hirshberg and his cofounder someone’s time. requires honesty.”
lying; he sees it as a simple act nearly gave up. Then they The way Chamorro-Premuzic Seen this way, a lie is a
of survival. In a crowded indus- made one last-ditch effort— sees it, the greatest lie we all tell gamble—a slight tilting of
try dominated by big players, he going to the SBA. “I believe is that we don’t lie. “There’s a the odds in a critical moment.
needed to look larger and capa- that determination is the most reason why we have to all pre- But what follows must be
ble. “As soon as we got our first undervalued and essential tend the world is more hon- truthful, because, as our liars
big deal, I did in fact hire the ingredient for success,” he says. est than it actually is,” he says, say, that’s the only way to build
right number of people to fulfill “More than a great product. “and that’s because we’re part an honest company.

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