"I CAN'T FAIL. I CAN'T GO BACK TO WORKING IN..." says the job board entrepreneur I talked to yesterday.
This determination reminded me strongly of my own attitude 11 years ago. I quit two jobs in a row after working in them only six months each. I told everyone I knew that I was starting a business and assumed that I was unemployable after that. I felt like failure was not an option.
This job board entrepreneur I talked with has an exceptional domain, years of experience in his industry, substantial experience building websites with inexpensive outsourced programming, the right personal circumstances and the drive to make his venture work.
His attitude reminded me of a story that Abraham Lincoln used to tell:
A man... had a small bull-terrier that could whip all the dogs of the neighborhood. The owner of a large dog which the terrier had whipped asked the owner of the terrier how it happened that the terrier whipped every dog he encountered. "That," said the owner of the terrier, "is no mystery to me; your dog and other dogs get half through a fight before they are ready; now, my dog is always mad!"
And this is the side of our business I really enjoy. There is no greed here, it's about wanting to fulfill one's destiny in life. It's about wanting to create something and say "this is my life's work". And it's about lifestyle. It's about the future of business and the Internet.
So put your heads down, stay focused and stay mad!
Dave Opton of ExecuNet pointed out a great post on Seth Godin's blog about staying power. Seth writes:
"I discovered a lucky secret the hard way about thirty years ago: you can outlast the other guys if you try. If you stick at stuff that bores them, it accrues. Drip, drip, drip you win.
It still takes ten years to become a success, web or no web."
And don't worry, 10 years will disappear in a flash.
