

Can't start a business only eating a Tombstone pizza every day - nate
http://blog.inklingmarkets.com/2010/01/can-start-business-only-eating.html

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dennykmiu
The most important life lesson that I have learned that I like to share with
fellow entrepreneurs who have failed in startups or friends and family members
who have lost a job is the old Chinese saying that, “Grass survives the
heaviest of rock.” The emphasis here is “grass”. If you put a rock on a
flower, flower will die. If you put a rock on grass, grass will find a way to
survive. As entrepreneurs, we are not entitled to anything. We must not think
of ourselves as flowers that deserve sunshine and nutrients. We must accept
that we are the lowest form of beings, or we won't find the courage and the
clarity to survive. As I learned to say in America, as entrepreneurs, your ass
is grass and the world is your lawnmower. So don't go looking for “love” in
the wrong places. Good luck, everyone.

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vaksel
Fully agree, perseverance is 90% of the battle.

Way too many people read Techcrunch and think that's the standard operating
procedure for startups. The reality is that it can take you a year before you
even hit 1,000 visitors a week...let alone a month.

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jayliew
I think there's something to be said about the value of impatience as well.
Wanting to pick up a golf stick today and be Tiger Woods is what makes you
walk in the store and pick up that stick - then go to the driving range.
Otherwise surfing around mindlessly and watching TV is going to always more
convenient than actually doing some kind of work for some vision that you want
to some day fulfill.

I'd say impatience is important. If you're going after the market, well you
have to swim fast to catch the wave, for it won't wait for you.

I think the lesson here is to be impatient, but don't give up in case of
failure - so the lesson is one of persistence.

A story that comes to mind is Evan William's Blogger.com days

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Asa-Nisse
They blew $18k on rent for 3 months? Sounds like best business decision ever.

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nate
Well that's a bit out of context and a bit summarized and so I can see is
misleading. The concept of Y Combinator means people need to travel to where Y
Combinator is. So us founders had to pack up bags and move to the valley to
participate in this program. We all had pretty established lives here in
Chicago.

One requirement was we had to find a place where we could have a dog, since a
founder already had a dog and we couldn't get rid of the dog! :)

So the best place we could find was a house for the three of us in San Jose.
We definitely ate cheap food and used cheap hosting and had cheap everything.
We even used 3 imacs that were donated to us by someone from Apple.

But rent in California is a tough one, but something we needed to get through
for our participation in Y Combinator. Which was totally worth the experience.

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Asa-Nisse
Hey, thanks for the explanation.

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rmason
Wow I was thinking if this famous chef likes them I've got to try a Tombstone
pizza ;<)

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antidaily
Something about falling down completely and picking yourself up always makes
for a compelling story. Also nice to hear you can get back that kind of
passion.

Sprout is right around the corner from me - I'm definitely checking it out
now. I'm a fan of Top Chef and had no idea he was involved; I would have been
there the day they opened.

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thiele
It should be a requirement for entrepreneurs to read one story of persistence
every week. It's hard to remember how ridiculously important it
is...especially during the times you need it most.

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billswift
I wrote a review on Amazon for this book, [http://www.amazon.com/Technique-
Getting-Things-Done-Directin...](http://www.amazon.com/Technique-Getting-
Things-Done-
Directing/dp/B000OLAL22/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262639577&sr=8-1) ,
published in 1947, "This is a very useful book on getting things done. If you
need hand-holding and specific techniques you can apply without thinking too
much it's not for you. It gives few specific techniques, instead it focuses on
general methods applicable to almost anything and on many inspirational
anecdotes. Very readable." Most of the anecdotes involve the need for
persistence and consistent effort.

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jsolson
I wish I'd seen this a week ago. I was staying in a hotel less than a mile
from the place.

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jcnnghm
This reminds me a lot of the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It seemed
that, at least with respect to successful people, a large part of his thesis
was that they were only successful because of their circumstance. However, the
only unifying theme between all the successful individuals was that they put
forth an extraordinary effort to master their fields for an extended period of
time.

Gates sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night and taking a bus to
work on an unused computer at a local college is a bad example of someone that
was lucky with circumstance. It's an example of someone willing to do whatever
it takes to create circumstances for himself. The same could be said for this
chef.

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AGorilla
Is there any more delicious metaphor for a dead ambition than Tombstone pizza?

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og1
Possibly KFC Famous bowls, due to the irony of the name.

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kyro
I think Patton Oswalt would agree:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfan5MacmsI>

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thesethings
Yay you. This whole thread I've been thinking of that, feeling alone. And then
I saw your comment. :D

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ray_wang
This is more of a insult to the top chef guy than any valuable lesson for
aspiring entrepreneurs.

