
No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means - chris100
http://blog.fairsoftware.net/2010/06/03/no-one-told-me-what-being-an-entrepreneur-really-means/
======
patio11
Different strokes for different folks, but I could count on one hand the
number of business emails I've sent in the last four years that went to
someone other than a customer, supplier, or "people I know well enough to
invite out for coffee."

This might be a weakness in my skillset, but I tend to think that outbound
marketing is a very time-intensive proposition, and as a sole businessman time
is something I can never really have enough of. I don't want to do anything
that has to get over a spam filter, a low-conversion inbox scan, and then a
low-conversion salespitch for it to positively affect my business. (And, it
goes without saying, spam is right out.)

I don't know what your personal threshold is for writing non-spammy email, but
I personally can't put my hands on a keyboard and not type a hundred words.
Even at ten emails a day, that is a thousand words. That could be an article,
an interview, a blog post (that would be criticized for overlength), etc, etc.
All things that I _get to keep_ , that stay available on the public Internet,
and that aren't strongly dependent on the reception of individual third
parties.

I'd much rather write the thousand words and pull some folks to me. After
that, perhaps we could do email and/or coffee.

~~~
dpapathanasiou
That works for you b/c your stuff is something an individual can find and
buy/sign up for on your site.

If you were producing something more complex, such as software for companies
or organizations, you would need a different approach.

------
JarekS
Email is the easy part. Meetings and phone calls are the worst. I mean - they
are if you've never done that before so often.

~~~
leftnode
Yup, if you're a programmer (like most of us), transitioning into that role is
very tough. You have to be very extroverted and it can be unsettling
sometimes.

I'd love to see some interviews with successful programmers turned
CEO's/managers (but in smaller companies, not Bill Gates) to see how they
managed it.

Also, shouldn't you call people instead? Calls are generally more personal and
harder to ignore than a random email from a stranger.

~~~
eande
Watch Paul Singh and you know how it is done <http://mixergy.com/mailfinch-
paul-singh-interview/>

~~~
AndrewWarner
Here's a direct link to the mp3: [http://mixergy.com/wp-content/audio/Mixergy-
MailFinch-Paul-S...](http://mixergy.com/wp-content/audio/Mixergy-MailFinch-
Paul-Singh.mp3)

------
jonpaul
My comment on the blog: I disagree that emailing strangers makes you a
entrepreneur. But, I do agree with the spirit of what he's saying that to be a
successful entrepreneur you do have to step out of your comfort zone and
contact those that you don't know.

------
edw519
_it’s just contacting people you don’t know to ask/beg for favors_

My take on "what being an entrepreneur really means" is 179 degrees from
yours:

I can't wait to contact people I don't know to share what I'm doing and how it
can improve their lives.

If you don't feel the same way, maybe you shouldn't be an entrepreneur.

I regularly go to Tech Breakfasts, Chamber of Commerce meetings, industry
dinners, dev groups, and network over coffee or beer just for the chance to
talk about what I'm doing. I love doing this almost as much as writing the
code itself. It gets me off my butt and away from my terminal and also gets
valuable feedback from others.

Coding in a vacuum is like trying to push cooked spaghetti through a straw.
Getting away from my text editor and talking to others, regardless of method,
completes the loop and improves the whole process.

And anyway, I'm not writing it for myself. It's for them. They really need to
know.

~~~
teaspoon
I work with a lot of entrepreneurs, and the ones I try to avoid are those who
think they're doing a favor to everyone they grace with their message. Like
street preachers, their zeal makes them blind to the general public's
disinterest in their noise, but they're sure their excitement about their
social gifting platform will spread like wildfire if they can just. Tell.
More. People.

If your heart doesn't cry a little bit every time you ask for a favor from a
stranger, or email someone who you know only has a 1 in 10 chance of being
interested, then you're probably the guy people avoid sitting next to at Tech
Breakfasts.

~~~
edw519
I began to copy and paste some of what you said, teaspoon, but then I just
decided to respond to the whole post with, "Where the hell did that come
from?"

If you avoid other entrepreneurs, then maybe you're hanging out with the wrong
ones.

If you liken anyone promoting their own business to a street preacher, then
perhaps you're the one missing the point.

As for me, I don't ask favors from anyone. I just build what they already need
and have asked for. I love writing software and I love sharing it with those
who are interested, including those next to me at Tech Breakfasts. I've sold
lots of software and built lasting relationships and friendships this way.

So I thought I'd share that with OP, who seems to have a problem doing and
enjoying it as much as I do. Your attitude and response does nothing to help
him (or anyone for that matter).

~~~
teaspoon
On a second reading, my comment was needlessly inflammatory. Sorry for that.

Perhaps we're talking about kinds of "sharing". I'm talking about cold-
emailing strangers and asking for writeups which, to be fair, is what the the
article is about. Those may be necessary evils for one's venture, but
recognize when you're doing a favor and when you're asking for one. That
understanding is the foundation of any business relationship.

The world could do with more entrepreneurs who hesitate before asking the
favor of time and attention, and HN could do with less of the "maybe you
shouldn't be an entrepreneur" attitude from everyone else.

------
bradleyland
For me, being an entrepreneur has meant two long years of putting the other
people in our company first (I'm talking paychecks here) while we bust our
butts (along side everyone else) to build the company to profitability. When
your income is on the line, you don't hesitate to ask for the sale. Not for a
moment. Not if you "get it".

------
billswift
There seem to be a lot of people here that apparently missed the point, so I
am going to repeat the comment I added to the OP blog:

He didn't say that 'sending lots of emails' makes you an entrepreneur - he
said that is one thing that he has to do as an entrepreneur that he wasn't
expecting. There was another post, I think about a year ago on HN, where a
founder pointed out that he ended up cleaning the company's toilets until they
could afford to hire a janitor. There are all kinds of jobs that _need_ to be
done for a business to function that many people don't realize beforehand.

------
charlesju
Why wouldn't you hire someone to do this for you? Seems like a waste of your
time.

~~~
NEPatriot
"Getting out of the building" is not a task you want to outsource. Speaking to
initial potential customers is critical to the start up and must involve the
founders. Once you establish product/market fit outsiders can come into play.

~~~
charlesju
The process of sending messages and setting up the initial contact is pretty
mechanical, should be easy to outsource if you're smart about it.

Of course, the CEO should close the leads himself.

