Why Falling for the Myth of Entrepreneurship Can Be Fatal
Entrepreneurs have a “mantel” around them. A halo. A mystic. For some, it is about late night drinking, coding, and pizza. For others, it is about having a multi-billion dollar valuation and some “big exit.” While the headlines have grabbed our attention and made these few cases seem like the norm, for most people, entrepreneurship is not like this.
What does entrepreneurship look like for most people?
Sitting in a Wix lounge for hours, trying to make your dream come true. Going to startup event after startup event and hoping to get a nugget of wisdom or to speak to a “VC.” Learning at Fownders startup incubator in Newark and taking thoughtful steps as you live in your parents home.
The Wall Street Journal writes What’s wrong with aiming high? What’s wrong with offering myths for everybody to aspire to? Very simply, the stories set people’s expectations unreasonably high, so they feel like failures even if they never wanted their business to grow huge to begin with. What’s more, people feel they must subordinate real life to work life, spending day and night on the job and ignoring their family so they can keep up with their peers. And they feel embarrassed if they’re not becoming the Next Big Thing.
So entrepreneurship is incredible. It is freedom. It is HIGH RISK with HIGH REWARD. I love it. However, let’s not lie to our family and friends. The glamor is not always there, but more often replaced with lots of tears and heartache.