Luck or hard work ?

[avelina]

Can you tell me the ratio between these two factors or the percentage to run a successful business ?

[akula]

the ratio is 100% luck...and we're all better for it

this is the consensus in venture capital
a startup is a complex system operating inside a complex system
for success to happen lots of things have to go right
all of them are things which are outside the founder's control
likewise, if you look at the history of home run startups like microsoft, netscape, amazon, ebay, google, facebook etc..they were all the product of good luck

[FabledMedia]

There is no such thing as luck.

Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity.

[akula]

no, you are wrong
you are suffering from illusion of control
this behavioral economics phenomenon is important to understand because it goes to the root of "how to best practice entrepreneurship"

why luck is important
once a founder accepts that both good and bad luck (i.e. randomness) plays the overwhelming role in venture outcomes, this realization helps the entrepreneur to identify, understand and practice the most functional strategy that a founder can adopt in order to achieve success.
that strategy is not "be different", "hire good people", "have passion" or any thing to do with the marketing mix, capitalisation etc...

the key strategy for achieving success in entrepreneurship is diversification rather than anything related to any one particular venture.
in other words, the key to achieving success with startups isn't about being a perfect person or making a perfect startup. it's more about being involved in a lot of startups. it's important for founders to understand this basic principle and to apply it with intention.

[veikoh]

What about common sense? I have been wondering past years why people are doing stupid things so sure that this is a right thing to do.

[generationy]

WOW! Thanks for posting! Luck really doesn't have much to do with success rather having the right mindset to achieve is what really counts. Some call it the Law of Attraction. When you are passionate about what you are doing, when you are determined to succeed at what you are doing and think about is all the time, you are bound to beat your competition. After all, innovation never came from someone who hated their job or hated working on what they were working on. Creativity and passion combined has always equaled innovation and hence, SUCCESS. So, luck is wishful thinking. What you should do NOW is start to focus on things you Love to do, work on and fill your life with them. Good luck to all!

[avelina]

Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity.

Agree with this line, if you are not prepared LUCK will never favor you. If you just rely on luck you will get success but to keep the success always in your pock , you will have to do a lot of hard work. The foundation of Microsoft might be due to to luck but to keep Microsoft at top , Microsoft teams has to put lot of continuous hard working.

[Cathy Duncan]

Well, when it comes to business or something special, luck and hard work both work. It is just like this example that it is your luck that you got birth in a wealthy family, but it is your hard work that you established yourself in the business.

[avelina]

It is just like this example that it is your luck that you got birth in a wealthy family, but it is your hard work that you established yourself in the business.

Nice quote ! Cathy Duncan. Welcome to this forum , just 9 posts mean you are a newbie here.

[rogercbryan]

My mentor had a line... "Luck is what happens to those who work hard". I think his point is that if you work hard then luck has a way of finding you. Or even simpler if you never try to do anything then luck has no way to come into your view. I agree with this. I'm not going to say I've been real lucky in my life but I do acknowledge a little luck.

Example: I spent 18 months working on a client back in 2002 & 2003. They drove me nuts to the point I wanted to give up on them. I persisted and then a little luck came my way. Not only did I get them as a client... I met their largest vendor who took a liking to me. They spent the next two years recruiting me. I went to work for them for 12 months and then used their money to start two of my companies. Both of which have revenues in excess of $1M annually. So if I would have never landed that client...???? Hell, I have no idea what I'd be doing now!

So my hard work on the client paid dividends with a little luck. I would have never 'had that luck' had I not put the work in.

[Gpaje]

I believe that working hard leads to opportunities to appear to be luck.

[nigelstephnie]

There might be business got success because of luck still you have to work hard to maintain that luck or else you might fall.

[avelina]

I believe the formula for success would be

100 % Success = 95 % Hard work + 5 % luck

Means , until this 5 % doesn't combine with the rest of 100 % , you can't get success. For example , if a person is stuck in accident and he can't run normally after that how can he be a great soccer player. So , we should also pray for better luck and blessings by God.

[timjahn]

This is a great question and one I think a lot of creative entrepreneurs ponder. I recently started a discussion about hard work versus luck on my blog and there are some great comments on that post with interesting perspectives.

Personally, I think it's a delicate balance of both. You absolutely need to work very hard to achieve anything great. But at the same time, luck can accelerate things a ton without much work involved. I think you need to expose yourself to as many opportunities as possible.

[akula]

yes tim, that's right, your understanding of luck is correct
it's not some sort of a magic word or anything to sweat over

luck is a short hand definition for both positive and negative random events that affect venture outcomes
luck is just another factor that entrepreneurs need to figure into their plans, in the same way they account for other PEST externalities
however, the challenge for founders is to look at the data and afford the appropriate weight to random events in how they impact on startup results
to that end, the data is unambiguous: randomness determines everything
there hasn't been a founder in history who has achieved success because everything "went to plan"
all founders either fail or succeed because something accidentally turned for better or worse

the key outcome after accepting this fact of life is strategy reformulation. what this means is that, given importance of randomness, the rational strategy for entrepreneurs (as well as all other equity investors) is diversification
simply put, founders achieve success for one reason only
that reason is their ability to stay in the game
founders who pivot and have more shots at throwing the dice achieve success more often than founders who put all their eggs in one basket
..and there is no mystery here. startup success is simply a function of mathematics

whether we like it or not, founders are at the mercy of random events. the failing founders lament about bad luck. the successful founders restructure their affairs to take advantage of good luck. it's a matter of personal choice.