A VC - Latest Comments in Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

jawsyoung — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:38:38 -0000

as an entrepreneur, if you are fulfilling purpose i.e. doing that which you are passionate about: there is no greater joy acrued to that.

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

paula — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:31:46 -0000

I would say that starting your own business does make you happier overall because it gives you freedom and flexibility, and the power to run your life your way.

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

themaria — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:38:26 -0000

Regarding the question of whether entrepreneurs are happy.... I don't believe this question has an answer, unless you can answer "Are human beings happy?" I can talk about whether or not I am happy. Absolutely! Even though I am a brand new entrepreneur working on my first startup that hasn't even launched yet. But I can say that this has been the happiest time of my life and the most rewarding process yet. And all of it has to do with my definition of happiness. Happiness is a funny thing. No one can define it, but we sure know it when we feel it. That's because source of happiness changes; what made you happy yesterday, may not bring you happiness tomorrow. You have to closely examine your "happiness triggers". I digress...

For me happiness is growth. If I am not growing, I am not happy. For me the entrepreneurial process has been a tremendous growth experience. I soberly realize that most startups never make it. And that's not enough to deter me from trying. Because it's been about the process more than anything. I had to build emotional strength to deal with uncertainty, I had to become better at balancing optimism while keeping in touch with reality. I had to become better at sales. I had to become better at communicating ideas of varying complexity in an exceedingly simple manner. As a person who hadn't touched technology until last year, I had to get out of my comfort zone and explore the unknown. I had to familiarize myself with the development process (front end and back end), enough to talk intelligently with my tech team and ensure that my dream turns into reality, and enough to get fascinated by it. I had to retrain my brain to see each "pain in the ass" problem as an opportunity. I had to learn how to put together financial statements. Oh and did I mention, I had to learn to live with uncertainty, and not just live with it, but revel in it? I had to learn how to look forward and not look back, except to analyze mistakes. Perhaps saying "had to learn" about all of these points is inaccurate, because I have only just started. Clearly I don't have the entrepreneurial experience to have fully developed any of these traits / behaviors. But one thing I know for sure, I am happy.

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Ben Marklein — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:00:19 -0000

Thanks Fred. If you think it's interesting enough and not well-covered ground I'd love to see a blog post with your take on the statement "the #1 job of the CEO is to raise money".

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

rpm — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:28:35 -0000

If it is true that "Happiness is wanting what you have, not getting what you want," Then I would say that entrepreneurs are not happier. Happy people are content with their surroundings, but entrepreneurs are always looking for better ways, more efficient, new, innovative ways to do things and improve things. Entrepreneurs are looking to the future trying to achieve goals.

But at the same time, the pursuit of betterment is fulfilling in and of itself. So it's probably a wash.

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

fredwilson — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:27:02 -0000

I think a founder/ceo who is product centric can raise money if they are talking to the right VCs

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

stylized.fact — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:45:43 -0000

It's fascinating that there is so little participation from women in the world of internet entrepreneurship. But wide gender asymmetry is found throughout the world of software development, so it shouldn't be surprising to see it observed here. Kind of a dark ages thing, I guess. When I look at the Y Combinator startup school video, I can get the feeling that women might not feel very welcome. I'm not suggesting that it's a sexist environment, just that it's such a "boy" thing. This should be pretty inspiring to creative entrepreneurs -- a large herd chasing a small set of ideas.

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

MarkHarrison — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:18:52 -0000

Are entrepreneurs happier that employees - almost certainly, on average, owing to selection bias :-)

Forget whether the statistics are valid or not - it's just the principle.

Assume that 20% of the population would be happier as entrepreneurs, and 80% happier as employees.

Assume that 5% of the population are entrepreneurs, and 95% are employees.

I'm willing to believe that the employee pool is far more "diluted" with repressed entrepreneurs than the entrepreneur pool is diluted with wanabee employees who have fallen into entrepreneurship by accident.

Oh, and you can safely assume that I'm far happier as an entrepreneur, even when things are going badly, than I ever was as an employee :-)

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Ben Marklein — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:15:05 -0000

content = contend...

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Ben Marklein — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:13:29 -0000

Fred - I'm having trouble mapping your concept of an entrepreneur to a specific title. Consider a company founder who is a great technologist and product person. The business is a fit for venture funding. What's the appropriate role / title for the founder? It seems to me there are two choices, neither of which is ideal:

1) Founder takes the CEO role. But many VC's would content that the #1 job of a CEO is to raise funding. This seems less than ideal. The founder will be distracted from focusing on product. Fundraising may also not be their strong suit. The founder could try to largely delegate fundraising to someone else on the management team, but this may raise a red flag among some VC's.

2) Founder brings on a CEO. This largely frees them from fundraising but now they have the drag of having to justify day to day decisions on product, budget and schedule. All of these may be areas where they trust themselves more than the CEO.

Would love to get your thoughts on this (and happy to flesh out the scenario if there's not enough information).

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Rob — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:20:06 -0000

I am still young and starting out but I will hazard a guess that an entrepreneur's level of happiness is directly related to that of their significant other's willingness to tolerate sentences that begin with phrases like: "I have this new idea...."

Currently reading Prophet of Innovation, bio on Joseph Schumpeter - the economist who coined the phrase creative destruction. I was very interested in reading the book, but dreaded the idea of a bio about an economist, however Thomas K. McCraw does an amazing job of making the story flow, entertain and educate.

Schumpeter also wrote some of the first theories on what motivates an entrepreneur - tying psychology and sociology into the economics of entrepreneurship. While his views have become the basis for what we know today the strength of his convictions and how well they do hold up today considering when and where he wrote them - it makes for a fascinating read on entrepreneurship.

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Scott Rafer — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:20:40 -0000

Thanks, Fred. I've always maintained that I wasn't an entrepreneur. Seemingly, we agree.

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Christopher Mancini — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:11:58 -0000

I think I am happiness has to be in perspective. Non entrepreneurs are happy working 9-5. They are happy improving their career by advancing their education and learning new skills. I am not happy with that though. I thirst for the creation of something. I thirst for creating a life story that my grandchildren are amazed when I tell them.

I think ultimately what I love most, what makes me keep at being an entrepreneur, is not that I am generally more happy, but that I think that the roller coaster is much more exciting. I think that the happiest moments that I have are worth the lowest lows. I would rather be on that roller coaster than on one that is more flatlined. Which seems more fun to you?

Chris
http://www.propertystampede...

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Guest — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:31:49 -0000

The problem is that many VCs are masters of the irrational "no" and they get Board seats...

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Guest — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:28:57 -0000

Jessica,
One trade-off tech entrepreneurs have to live with is that often they may come across as unpleasant. Caring about your idea means that often you have to say/do things that run against social etiquette. In doing what is right for my company I have been called a jerk, egomaniac and what not, and that's just the way it is, you do not let it impact you and just keep plugging. Most women, in my view, care too much about how they are perceived socially and would sacrifice their passion out of a need to be "nice".

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Dan — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:12:14 -0000

Regarding "are entrepreneurs happier than others", a more pertinent question you should ask yourself is "would I personally be happier as an entrepreneur or not?"

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

fredwilson — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:23:02 -0000

Jessica

I will work on a post on this topic, but the one thing I want to say is that
someone has to break through and become the role model that others will
follow. There have been a few women who have had big successes as tech
entrepreneurs but not enough. Maybe you can be one of them.

Fred

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Aruni S. Gunasegaram — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:13:16 -0000

Fred - This is an interesting post on many levels. Here are my thoughts:

I think if someone has entrepreneurial tendencies they can be taught. I say this because I have taken and taught entrepreneurship classes at the college level at the UT Austin business school. The vast majority of students will never start their own businesses but the few who have and who will will use the tools, people, etc. presented in the class to make something happen whether before they graduate, soon after, 10 yrs out, or 50 yrs out. But they must have the spark, the desire, and be comfortable with the unknown.

Rather than a personality disorder I like to think of it as a different way of viewing the world, comfortable with chaos/ambuiguity, and feeling they can make a difference and finding creative ways (not just VC backed) to make it happen. A very small % of entrepreneurs take outside capital.

Sadly, as you said there are not many women entrepreneurs in the tech/web world and in my opinion it's because there are not many women VCs or investors. I strongly believe that people promote/uplift in their image (their comfort zone) and given the tech world is still dominated by men you won't see this change until there are more women involved. More VC firms need to take more risks by hiring more women regardless if their degree/training is in tech. Because when you say things like you advise entrepreneurs to acquire "technical and product skills" and most girls/women were not encouraged or not drawn to those fields at a young age you dismiss, in my opinion, a big reason why several start-ups make it (i.e., all the other stuff). Gates was technical but Microsoft would not have made it without the non-technical people who may not have been founders but were there early. Wozniak was technical and Jobs took the lead on the other stuff. I may get flamed for this but I believe men and women think differently and view the world differently. There are not enough business/investor mentors out there who get or are comfortable with how women think/strategize/take action, etc. so often we are forced to act like men which works for some but not for most.

As Gail Evans, former VP at CNN, says we all have one life and work is part of that life just like play so balance is what you make of it.

I think if an entrepreneur is comfortable listening to their internal drive and not being overly influenced by the hype/peer pressure, they can be happy. If you are doing it just for the money or fame, in the vast majority of the cases you will not be happy because the money won't come. Personally, I can run the full range of emotions on a daily basis but the more I pay attention to what's right for me and my family, the happier I am. As someone mentioned previously, this is not a black/white answer because it is like asking if doctors/nurses/sanitation worker/lawyers/mothers/parents are happier than others! I know some unhappy entrepreneurs, depressed mothers, happy mothers, miserable hairdressers, happy dental hygenists, etc.

In the tech world, we often lose site of the fact that there are much easier ways to make money and taking your time to do it right is not a bad thing. :-)

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Jessica — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:56:31 -0000

Hi Fred,

I have always wondered about being a woman and trying to be an entrepreneur, and I'd definitely like your perspective on it. I'm personally interested in the business of tech and one of my pie-in-the-sky goals/dreams is to be an entrepreneur and be able to pioneer a product or technological development and bring it to the marketplace. Of course, I'm still really young, just about to graduate college, so maybe I'm still allowed to have ridiculous ideas. (Not that entrepreneurship is ridiculous, but realistically, it is a rare opportunity for anyone...perhaps I'm too much of a realist to be an entrepreneur?...) I don't even know if I have the personality for being an entrepreneur, but I've always been on the lookout for examples of successful female entrepreneurs. Sadly, 99% of the ones I come across are NOT in the tech business. In fact, while it is somewhat heartening that many women are running their own businesses, I'm rather disheartened that these businesses are geared towards "woman things" - underwear, cosmetics, fashion, etc etc. I feel that the message is that women can of course succeed in business, if only they cater to the "woman's niche" in the market.

In thinking about why this is so, I have concluded that entrepreneurship has a very large social component to it, such as, the sharing of ideas, the ability to convey expertise and convey confidence to vc's or to others that you may be interested in working with. And let's face it, the tech world has yet to view men and women working in it as equals. And um, well, the simple fact is, whether they recognize their own ingrained prejudices or not, people are less likely to share ideas with you when you're the only woman in the room, trying to succeed in something as 'male' as tech. All in all, I get the feeling that it is far more frustrating for a woman trying to be a tech entrepreneur, and that getting attention for your ideas as a female tech entrepreneur is just all the more difficult. I would say the high frustration and difficulty is somewhat correlated with the low percentage of women deciding to study engineering and science in the first place. The reasons for both are very similar.

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Andy Lee Graham — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:55:14 -0000

Mastery of the skills need is the secret to self-esteem, the person who feels the daily completion highs is happy.

The person focused on money is unhappy, the person who attains respect or wealth as a byproduct of Entrepreneur endeavers is happy.

99 percent of Entrepreneurs wanted to be free and became a hostage of their business, the other 1 percent found freedom.
Andy of HoboTraveler.com in Panjachel, Guatamala, Lago Atitlan looking at volcanoes and maybe I am working...

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

simondodson — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:02:47 -0000

"What skills would you advise an entrepreneur to acquire? Technical and product skills. Focus on the core offering. Let others worry about the rest." this is a great quote

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

fredwilson — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:33:01 -0000

Great line. I reblogged it at fredwilson.vc

Thanks

fred

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

fredwilson — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:28:02 -0000

It's just one man's opinion. Doesn't mean it's right.

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

Prakash — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:39:51 -0000

I think an entrepreneur is happy as long as he is following his heart and doing what he loves and not in business for the wrong reason and doing the wrong thing. I think there are several people who start a business doing something that they are not passionate about

Re: Ten Questions About Entrepreneurs

vincentvw — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:30:11 -0000

@Wilson:
Perhaps you should qualify entrepreneurship. Like Jay here, I'm not sure it's as black & white.

I know a lot of people who started their own business because they saw a chance to take their skills and clients to the next level. Ask them if they were "born" with it, and they'll likely answer that they have no idea.

Similarly, considering the numerous opportunities & education available for starting a business these days, there are people that wonder whether entrepreneurship is not just becoming another job, one for which some skills can be trained.

But I agree that something like passion can probably not be trained. Still, being "born" with it, seems like a strong statement.