[akula]

I guess everyone here is looking for that secret that's gonna propel them to entrepreneurship stardom. I think I've found mine, and if you like, you can share yours.

Technicalities of Startups: This is the easy bit. Eventually, everyone figures out how to be an investor (select what startup you best get into), a founder (how to start ventures) and a CEO (how to manage businesses). These things are really just methodical steps that take some time to figure out, and then, they just become innate and transferable to any and all other situations.

Fear, Anger and Hate: But really, the secret to startup success has nothing to do with technicalities. They're just a natural part of playing this game. What really makes the difference is, no secret here; psychology. Just like in sports, warfare, or any kind of competitive activity - it's the player's psychology which defines the outcome of the game.

In startups, I've experienced that fear, anger and hate; is the unholy trinity which is long tried, battle tested, and guaranteed to make ordinary people achieve extraordinary things.

These emotions are negative in nature, and like fire, they can both destroy and sustain the entrepreneur. The trick is...the secret....is how to control and direct these emotions.

Duty, Love and Care: Whilst the unholy trinity is intense and is best used for very short periods of time (or it will destroy you), the sense of duty, love and care to and for others, are the long term - strategic, rather than tactical - emotions used by entrepreneurs to win the games the play.

In stark opposite to fear, anger and hate, the holy trinity of startup psychology, acts as a counter balance to self-centricity and forces entrepreneurs to open up and feel the world around them so they can find little nooks and crannies where they are most wanted and where they can seed, shelter and grow their babies.

From a scientific point of view, startup success is highly dependant on longevity, and time in play. Because startups exist inside a complex system, the outcome of the game entrepreneurs play is more dependant on how many times they get to roll the dice, rather than the quality of their dice rolling technique. In situations like this, it can take years of failed attempts before the entrepreneur hits jackpot. It is during these hard times, and there will be hard times, that a sense of duty, love and care, come in handy to give the entrepreneur the inner strength to keep on playing.

And that's these secret. It's emotional control, or having the ability to both switch on and readily switch off, negative and positive emotions.

[Outta Hand]

Very nicely put....

The biggest thing and hardest thing is controlling your emotions when it comes to money and business. "Attitude determines Altitude" and by this i mean the more you can separate your emotions from the business or investing you are running the better you will do making decisions. And the better you will do all around.

[Karen]

"Attitude determines Altitude"

if you are having fun, enjoying yourself ... your business will grow. Period.

People will be drawn to your attitude, people will remember you and your services and will refer others to you.

"Love what you do"

There are more than enough people on this planet for everyone ... forget about the competition, the 'saturation' etc ... there is more than enough.

If it fires you up, go for it.

Period.

Karen

[NVTimports]

Nice post! basically just take a risk and DO something, best time to do it is when your young so you have nothing to lose.

[Day2]

I'd throw in "Kiss a lot of toads and you might find a prince."

While you certainly can't ignore the importance of perseverance, it's also important to know when to cut and run and move onto something else.

Many entrepreneuers have done LOTS of different things before they hit gold. Serial entrepreneurs know that luck and random timing is a huge factor in startup success.

---

I'd also throw in "Most Entrepreneurs are lousy operations managers."

One of the best things that I learned to do was to step away from managing a company as soon as I could afford to do so. Most entrepreneurs are lousy managers, and most good managers are lousy entrepreneurs.