Over the past few years, I’ve had fun visiting college campuses to talk about entrepreneurship. The classroom is usually full of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed students that are excited about becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, or Jack Dorsey. They spend their days reading all of the major tech blogs and know about the most recent VC fundings and billion-dollar acquisitions in Silicon Valley. The life of the founder appears to be so dreamy: late nights, coding, angel investors, VCs, awesome teams, killer cultures, fast growth, investment bankers, luxurious travel, and then a huge exit. Of course, they all know that it’ll be ‘hard work.’ Unfortunately, it isn’t all a bed of roses and I’m often the bearer of bad news… ‘Hard work’ is to entrepreneurship what contractions are to giving birth. Contractions might give you a feel for what you’re about to experience, but there is almost no comparison to the experience of delivering a baby. Don’t get me wrong… (in business) there is nothing more satisfying and enjoyable (for me) than building a successful company. It’s not a job; it’s a challenge. It includes the highest of high experiences that create life-long friendships and memories. However, that’s not the whole picture. Being an entrepreneur/founder will also ‘chew you up and spit you out’ on a very regular basis. You’ll experiences challenges, pains, and emotions you never thought you’d experience — including the lowest of lows. I’ve heard Josh James, CEO/Founder of Domo (raised over $125M) & Omniture (sold to Adobe for $1.8B), talk about how he has literally been huddled up on the floor, in the fetal position, crying as he was trying to figure out a solution to a major problem he was facing. Believe me, we’ve all been there. So, in the spirit of trying to portray an accurate reflection of what it’s like to be an entrepreneur/founder/CEO, here are a few of the things you will likely experience: …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
