Comments on: Entrepreneurship: Why It’s Not about You

By: by Tim

by Tim — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:17:30 +0000

This is an important point.

The moment you accept funding from professional investors, your relationship to your company fundamentally changes, because investors (rightfully) require a return on their investment, and you must eventually sell your company in order to achieve that return for them (few except the ideologically or personally committed will accept earnings distributions have sufficient return).

Professional investment = drive toward exit (sale of company) is generally an unalterable equation.

By “thinking bigger,” your audience meant creating a scalable business that would be attractive to buyers. Few buyers are interested in lifestyle ventures (companies meant to support the founders with a comfortable living or lifestyle), because such ventures generally have little value once the founder leaves.

Thanks for an excellent comment, this leads into a very long discussion

By: Trish

Trish — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:39:24 +0000

I remember making a comment to a group of angel investors that I wanted to have a business that stemmed from my passion for health promotion and was financially strong enough to support my family. The group seemed opposed to funding such an endeavor. It appears to be difficult to balance passion for a product or service and getting buy in from investors that are so focused on high returns and explosive growth. They suggested I think bigger.

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:08:02 +0000

Great Perspective!

By: by Tim

by Tim — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:52:26 +0000

Well said, Phil – thanks for stopping by!

Tim

By: Philip W

Philip W — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:51:46 +0000

This a great article and shows how people with dollar signs in their eyes will not be able to endure this inevitable hardships that arise when building your own business. Helping customers and contributing to society should go hand in hand.

By: The Grand Pursuit | Derek Sivers

The Grand Pursuit | Derek Sivers — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:31:11 +0000

[...] Entrepreneurship (“businessing”?) feels like a grand pursuit of helping other people achieve their goals. [...]

By: charles faris

charles faris — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:04:13 +0000

hear hear! i heartily agree. there are much easier ways to make money than launching something no one has heard of or can even begin to understand.

and yet, getting out of the box is just about the only way to really help people the way they are, not the way they have to contort to fit into some massive program…

what i care about is people all over the world living a life that inspires them, lives full of happy relationships, meaningful careers, vital health. Seems like a gimme.

By: DCO Weekend Reader - 10/10/08

DCO Weekend Reader - 10/10/08 — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:52:36 +0000

[...] thoughtful article on what entrepreneurship is really about. Like I’m fond of saying, the lessons in this post can easily extend well beyond [...]