Perseverance or Insanity? Leading a startup to success requires perseverance and passion. Yet when does insanity manifest itself as perseverance? When does passion blur one’s vision? When is the traction you’re not achieving attributed to devotion to an unworthy cause? How many no’s must you hear before you recognize that your personal vision of yes is a sign of blindness while the no from others is true clarity?
I sometimes find myself in a difficult vantage point observing entrepreneurs I like and respect, running down rabbit holes and warrens of wasted opportunities. I watch as they tirelessly roll Sisyphus’s boulder up a hill to a pay-off that repeatedly rolls back to the bottom.
I watch as they lament with incomprehension regarding peers who’ve been funded while they dine on scraps. That “if only investors would open their eyes to the power of my vision.” That “if I just invest a couple hundred more hours adding a few more features, my baby will grow wings and fly.”
It’s a difficult walk in the shoes of a founder. It’s difficult to determine if you’re viewing your baby through rose-colored glasses or perhaps it is as the world insists…. that baby of yours is a beast.
Without perseverance, few great companies wouldn’t be companies at all. Without vision and passion, great companies would only be ho-hum.
How does a founder clear their vision, step back, and determine if they are persevering in vain? Whether the baby is a beauty or a troll.
Whether it is time to pivot from dream to paycheck. Whether it is perseverance or Insanity.
Maybe you should try talking to someone who’s been there before. I’m a business coach, former startup founder, and hired-gun turn-around CEO. I’ve had IPOs, $100 million acquisitions.. and multiple failures. Why not try a sample coaching session? Bounce some ideas off of a neutral third party. Schedule a complimentary coaching session here, and let’s see if I can help you figure out if you should continue with perseverance or insanity.
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