Some people may be born to be entrepreneurs, but even they have to be made. <\/p>\n
My dad was an entrepreneur. He got his PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford, discovered a new way to measure the output of lasers, created a company, and (after many years of struggling, during which we kids thought McDonalds was a sit-down restaurant, and Sizzler was a once-a-year glimpse of the high life), made it big enough to sell for a couple million dollars.<\/p>\n
Now he's \"retired\"...and working harder than ever with his non-profit<\/a>, helping Hispanic kids catch and follow a larger vision for their lives. Definitely an entrepreneur.<\/p>\n My eldest brother is an entrepreneur. He's a lawyer, owns a title insurance company, and has his hands in a bunch of other businesses -- more than I even know about.<\/p>\n The next elder brother hasn't made it quite so big, but definitely has the bug. Among other things, he's the self-published author of several books -- some that aren't really my type, and others that I like<\/a>, love<\/a>, and can't wait to read<\/a>.<\/p>\n Then there's me. Since graduating in 1994, I've worked for \"the Man\" for a total of about 4 years.<\/p>\n Something Seth Godin<\/a> published today got me thinking about how I got to this point:<\/p>\n [Some] jobs require a different sort of hard work: the guts to be wrong, a confrontation with the risk of being stupid.<\/p>\n ...<\/p>\n More and more people now have jobs that require them to confront the risk of appearing stupid on a regular basis.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As I kid, I was painfully shy.<\/p>\n I lasted one day in pre-school.<\/p>\n In kindergarten, there was some sort of playhouse in the classroom. I barely ever went into it because I felt like it belonged to the other kids. I wasn't part of the group.<\/p>\n In scouts, I made it to Life just fine, but never got my Eagle. Why? I was too chicken to get my Citizenship in the Community merit badge and do an Eagle project.<\/p>\n I may have been born with some entrepreneurial tendencies, but guts weren't one of my natural gifts.<\/p>\n So how did I make the transition?<\/p>\n When I was 23, I got the feeling I should move away from home to finish school. So I did. With $500 to my name, no job, and only temporary housing arrangements, I moved to San Francisco. I had no idea that what I was attempting was impossible.<\/p>\n And yet, it worked out. A week later, I had a job that I stayed with for the next 4 years. My \"temporary\" housing lasted for the next 13 months, and I didn't have to pay rent till the end of each month.<\/p>\n So yeah, there was some \"luck<\/a>\" involved. But the experience gave me more confidence.<\/p>\n I had a good friend during that period who was a great listener. I pushed myself a little to open up and talk more about personal things.<\/p>\n The experience gave me more confidence.<\/p>\n After graduation, I got a job as a software test engineer for an Apple subsidiary. I went into my 6 month performance review expecting a stereotypical smack down, and came out with a raise. And at that job, I successfully completed a lot of assignments that took me into completely unfamiliar territory.<\/p>\n That experience was the capstone. Since then, I've felt that I can handle pretty much any challenge I care to take on.<\/p>\n So after 3 1\/2 years, with the prospects for interesting work at that company diminishing (they had a major layoff and cancelled a bunch of product lines shortly after I left), I was ready to make the leap.<\/p>\n It hasn't been easy. And there are still areas where \"the risk of appearing stupid\" has slowed me down. It shouldn't.<\/p>\n If you want to succeed in a business where you're more than just a cog in the machine, you've got to face down your fears.<\/p>\n Do that, and you'll stop leaving undone the things that separate the winners from the losers.<\/p>\n Do that, and you'll stand out. Because for every person who does, there are 99 who don't -- who stick to \"safe\" options like buying another eBook, trying out an \"easy button\" done-for-you biz op, or just continuing to do the same things that have failed before, hoping that next week will be different.<\/p>\n Do that, and you'll gain experiences that will teach you that you can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some people may be born to be entrepreneurs, but even they have to be made. My dad was an entrepreneur. He got his PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford, discovered a new way to measure the output of lasers, created a company, and (after many years of struggling, during which we kids thought McDonalds was...
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