

What Makes an Entrepreneur? Cojones - greyman
http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/01/05/what-makes-an-entrepreneur-appetite-for-risk-711

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jacquesm
Self congratulatory bull-shit. Plenty of people become entrepreneurs out of
some level of desperation (need to put food on the table!).

They learn and with some time they can become excellent - or simply just good
enough - at running a business.

The 'ballsy' ones are disproportionally represented in the stellar successes
camp as well as the miserable failure camp, with the majority of them in the
latter.

If you are not risk averse at all you will have to be extremely lucky to
survive an extended stretch of entrepreneurship. For every phase of managing a
company there is a different profile that works best, and the best
entrepreneurs are the ones that adapt their personalities to the situation
they find themselves in.

Serial gamblers can have a winning streak, but they eventually always lose.

~~~
onewland
This whole series (this article is part 7 of a series of blog posts) seems
like it should be titled "Qualities the Author Perceives he Embodies that Lead
to his Great Success".

I guess that was a long way to call this self-congragulatory bullshit.

~~~
msuster
No, not really. On my blog I often talk about the things that I F'd up along
the way. Probably more articles on that than self congratulations. I did some
things well, I did some things poorly. I use examples from life because I
think it makes it easier to read than just management speak. But I understand
how this series could be perceived that way.

~~~
garply
It's OK to say the word 'fuck' here.

But I liked your series. It's inspirational to those of us who haven't made
the slam dunk yet, even if you've traded in your entrepreneurial risk profile
for that of a more conservative investor (a reasonable move, I might add).

------
Mz
_I figured that the alternative was that I start my third company with no
salary and all risk. I had nothing to lose!_

The above remark from the article fits my mindset pretty well. The rest of the
article, that talks about what huge risk-takers entrepreneurs have to be and
what big balls they need, doesn't resonate with the above remark and doesn't
resonate with my understanding of how life works. It strikes me as a
misframing of the facts.

I agree with many of the anecdotal judgment calls in the article. I just
wouldn't frame it as "I said no because his actions proved he lacked cojones".
I would say things like "His actions suggested lack of confidence in his own
work/product and if he didn't believe in himself, why should I?" or "His
actions suggested poor judgment, so it would be unwise to invest in him. The
odds of it going badly are too high."

If you can Bring It and you know it, you don't need cojones to "gamble" on
yourself. There is a huge difference between gambling on something and having
confidence in something.

