Last week, a friend of mine was about to take the leap. She had a consulting concept in mind and had a client ready. Being someone with integrity, she decided to ask her boss if there was anything at all that would be construed as unethical if she put up the practice she had in mind. She didn’t think it was going to be a problem, but she just wanted to be sure. She also trusted her boss and valued his opinion.
The boss shot the idea down. It WAS unethical, he said.
Huh?!
Tell me, is there something unethical when a marketing manager from an FMCG firm wishes to put up a consulting firm whose first potential client was a small firm engaged in construction?
I know a handful of FMCG marketing people who have put up their own consulting firms. None were sued. In fact, almost all these new firms were contracted by the very firms their founders resigned from.
So what gives ?!
Perhaps the boss thought:
“Uh-oh. If she leaves, I’m going to have to do more work, I’ve got to find a replacement, and it also hurts my reputation. Easy call here.”
Next story.
Another friend, this time from a large IT firm, had been in his firm for good number of years already. One very common occurrence was having lunch out with a set of friends in the office. He admitted that they would always have a good time – mostly bashing his current employers and trying to out-do one another with boss horror stories.
During one lunch session, he told his friends about a recent decision he’d made: he was going to take a pay cut to join a startup.
To my friend’s utter surprise, there wasn’t universal support!
“Of course, mostly everyone congratulated me at first, but you can see from their expressions and body language that some thought differently. Then later it came out:”
Iiwan mo na kami dito!” (So, now you are leaving us behind)
My friend was puzzled because he thought he’d get all-out support, after all, they were his friends.
Perhaps not. Perhaps the basis of their friendship had been the bonds they formed hating on their current jobs, so once that was gone…
Or perhaps it’s simply people being crabs.
I guess that’s one more advantage of doing bold leaps – you get to see who your real friends are. Real friends believe in you, and WILL support any endeavor of yours that involves pursuing your heart’s desires.
Find them and distance yourself from the selfish soul-suckers above.
In my first job, I was a high school english teacher. I loved what I did, but I earned minimum wage. That was my first year out of college, so naturally, I went out a lot with my friends – who were all mostly working in corporations. Every month-end, I had around P20 in my account.
A year later, I entered the corporate world. They more than doubled my salary, just like that! (even if I actually I thought I did a bit more work in school – where you are ruled by the bell and lesson plan submissions)
I bought a lot of things with my newfound extra cash, went out 1-2x a week with my friends, and gave nice Christmas gifts to my friends. This was also the year when Starbucks just opened in Manila. And oh boy, did I love my coffee.
My friends, this is what is so seductive about salaries. What it buys for us is a lifestyle. A lifestyle we weren’t used to when we were in school. All of a sudden, our purchasing power increases exponentially, and with that, our tastes somehow develop exponentially as well.
Baon and cheap cafeteria food for lunch will suddenly not be good enough. After some annual salary increases, Jollibee and “food courts” will not be good enough. Soon, we find ourselves spending huge sums of money on restaurants.
Eventually, eating out and nice Christmas gifts for friends become carsand condos. Worse, we buy them before we earn them – mostly through “great plans” our employers provide us, or these loans the banks ram down our throats (with all their ads selling the lifestyle, if you notice).
It isn’t any secret – all these great perks, your annually-augmented salary, and other benefits are designed precisely to keep you.
In just 2 years, you will be entitled to become a Manager, and then you will receive all these other perks and more importantly, a different pay grade! Then, you just wait a bit more, and then it’s VP time!
Don’t you notice that a better, flashier lifestyle is immediately dangled before us even if we just entered a new one? Here is your career. Here is what you’ll be receiving at every step.
In our pursuit of a better lifestyle though, aren’t we sacrificing a better life?
What about doing what we love? What about following our dreams? What about getting paid for something you’d do for free?
Oh, you can worry about that later in life. Much later. Look, here’s an 8% salary increase! Get yourself that new Retina Macbook!
Life or lifestyle? Frustratingly, it seems that to start pursuing one means denying yourself of the other. After awhile though, the differences surface. The more you choose lifestyle, the further your dreams can become. Witness the great number of corporate lifers who experience periodic existential angst.
But the longer your choose to pursue your dream? The likelier you end up with the lifestyle you thought you sacrificed anyway.
I think I’ve written more than a few posts on founding teams already. I can’t help it, because it’s just SO FREAKING important. This very first step will make or break your startup.
A huge part of my work now is assembling founding teams. Of course, I’ve had successes and failures. As usual, the failures have taught me much more than the successes. From what I’ve learned, here are more detailed principles I now live by when it comes to founder selection.
Ignore at your peril.
1) DNA=KRA
Founder DNA should match Company KRA’S.
Once you identify the 2-3 main strategic areas your company will be involved in, find founders who can fulfill EACH area. Are you starting up a mobile gaming firm? Then you need someone who designs great games, someone who makes great games, and someone who can sell them. If you are all three, then you can actually put one up on your own. There’s a very good chance that you are not though, so fill the gaps with co-founder or two. (I highly suggest keeping it to 3)
“Why can’t we just hire someone for the gap?”
The answer can be very practical. Because that someone who is hired can leave. If the person leaves, and is occupying a position of strategic importance (say, you hired a person who will develop your games), then your whole company gets stalled. If the founders are selected strategically, then one partner can always fill the gap of whoever employee leaves.
This is one secret why STORM works. The whole soul behind STORM is HR and IT. So over the years we’ve lost IT team leaders to Singapore, or lost internal HR Consultants. Whoever leaves, either Pao (founder, IT guy) or I (founder, HR guy) can take up the slack, so no time is wasted.
This way, you ensure that the DNA of your startup will always be aligned to its core objectives.
2) NEVER Compromise on a Founder
This is corollary to the first one. Sometimes, we get too excited with working with our friends or we get too excited about starting that we end up partnering with the wrong person.
We can delude ourselves into thinking thoughts like:
Hmmmmm…this guy isn’t as impressive as I had hoped, but he’s close enough
or
This person is just okay, but I do think I set my standards too high in the first place anyway. He should be able to do the job.
No, he won’t.
NEVER compromise. Don’t talk yourself in doing so. Keep on digging. Believe me, you’d much much rather get delayed than selecting the wrong person.
QUICK TIP: 3 things to seriously ask yourself: a) CAN he do the job? (capability) b) WILL he do the job (motivation) c) DOES HE HAVE TIME to do the job? (bandwidth)
That guy you selected COULD’VE BEEN this guy instead
3) You can only gauge talent in your own DNA sphere
Scenario: you want to fill a founder post with someone with a programmer background. “I want a great programmer,” you say to yourself. Then some person comes in and shows you some stuff he’s made. It works. You’re impressed. It’s easy to mutter to yourself, “This guy’s great!”
DON’T GIVE HIM THE KEYS TO THE CITY JUST YET.
I liken the above to this scenario: let’s say you’ve never watched football in your life. You could watch some schlub in the local soccer field score some goals (maybe one with a bicycle kick) and say to yourself, “Wow, that guy is an amazing player.” And then, a few days after you get to watch Lionel Messi play. NOW you know what “great” is.
Tip: in situations like this, ASK someone who is knowledgable about an area who can discern “great” from “mediocre.”
4) You have to have someone fulltime
I guess it IS possible for a startup to begin standing on its own two feet with all of its founders doing it part-time. This is just impossibly difficult to do, I’ve found. Without someone in your founding team who can put on the hours your startup sorely needs, it’s very difficult to pull off. The most valuable thing your startup needs is not funding, or a killer strategy – the most valuable thing it needs is great people spending time on it.
Even if it’s just one founder fulltime. You got to have someone who commits, right from the start. If not, development will be slow as hell, and somewhere down the line, your momentum and/or motivation just wanes.
This happens no matter how utterly magnificent your part-time founders are.
Don’t make equity room for these two
5) Get rid of pure talking heads
Never give substantial shares (or any shares for that matter) to people who will only assume what I call the “talking head” role. Someone who says he’s in it for merely “the strategy part.”
What characterizes the “talking head” is his lack of arms and legs – he won’t do anything. He just presumes he’s worth the equity because of the sheer “knowledge and wisdom” he will impart.
Resist his wily charms. You need DOERS who will contribute. Get DOERS who can multi-task and think as well.
You CAN, however, get these guys as mentors. It’s almost 100% they’ll agree.
Do these right, and it’s literally half the battle.
(Subscribe now to Juan Great Leap and never miss a post!)
Here’s quick way to enter the startup lifestyle: join one!
Below are startup career opportunities in the JUAN GREAT LEAP (JGL) startup network. If you are interested in any of these, please shoot me an email at pcauton@yahoo.com, along with a resume or linkedin link.
All the jobs are STARTUP jobs, so expect the following from all of them: a) the job description is fluid: the job WILL change as the startup changes b) you will have a lot of freedom to create and leave your mark c) there is always a possibility for earning shares, d) things are pretty exciting, e) being part of the JGL Startup Network opens up all sorts of possibilities as far as career and learning are concerned. f) the job title is merely a placeholder – you can call yourself what you want (like, Ambassador of Buzz, Master Chief, Super VP, etc…), I just used the term “head” as a catch-all.
From its “let’s make HR applications” days, STORM is now undergoing the transition to a fully-focused Flexible Benefits provider. Through flexible benefits, STORM helps companies solve this problem: How can I maximize satisfaction on a limited budget?
As business development head, the successful applicant will be helping me and Pao create strategies in creating business for the company not only locally, but also internationally. STORM now has the technology and Flexben support team capable of servicing an international clientele. More importantly, the successful applicant will be IMPLEMENTING these strategies.
STORM has been on an upward trajectory ever since its inception. We are very very excited about its prospects and we need a great, innovative business development person to put us over the top.
B) General Manager, STRATA (In Incubation)
Over the years, our team at STORM has created a wide array of different technology-based HR solutions APART from our central FLEXBEN solution. A number of these have been making serious money. The thing is, one of the clearest things we have to do strategically in STORM is to focus, and we have decided recently to focus on FLEXIBLE BENEFITS alone.
So what about the other solutions? (some of which make money and have clients) Instead of just killing the other products, the very clear direction is to spin them off by creating ANOTHER HR firm.
We need someone here with enough HR knowledge (and interest) not merely to hold deep discussions with HR business leaders, but more importantly to convince them of ideas. We also need someone who would be interested in technology and obviously, has to be a bit of an entrepreneur. In the end, this person will hold tremendous influence over how Strata will develop and look like. We need someone who can own the startup and make it grow.
The interesting thing about this startup? It ALREADY will have a client list and a revenue stream.
Substantialequity, in the case of this position, will be available (with vesting).
Local executive search has basically been the same over the course of the last 20 or so years. It’s high time to disrupt it. This is the battlecry for Searchlight, and this year is proving to be a tipping point.
The business isn’t exactly rocket science – it’s finding, convincing, and placing great people in great career opportunities. (which is also why there is a challenge to standout as a firm) So those who AREN’T in search now, or even fresh graduates, are very welcome to apply.
We need a young consultant who can learn the ropes fast, and help put our strategies into place. We need someone who’s great in social media, is a workaholic, can communicate and sell, represent the company well, and loves people.
D) General Manager, Mobile Payments Firm (In Incubation)
One of the startups we are currently developing is a new take on mobile payments. It has been in incubation over the last few months, and will probably launch in the 4th quarter. We have a topnotch founding team for this, but we would be needing a General Manager. I really can’t talk about this one in detail, but I can do so in person if you signify interest in learning more. For this post, substantial vested equity will be available.
Juan Great Leap is slowly transforming into many things: an online advocacy, startup lab, a startup community, even a bit of a startup school. Currently the only one “employed” fulltime by Juan Great Leap is me. I need a junior contributor who can help me develop all facets of the concept.
I need someone who is reliable, has a lot of energy, a good writer, has supreme communication skills, is organized, entrepreneurial, and someone who is very very interested in startups. With that skill set, you probably command a high salary – and I am telling you now, this firm probably won’t be able to match what a corporation can give you. (largely because the labs are a long-term play) But I am also telling you now: if you are interested in startups, there is no other job opening that will give you as much learning as this one.
Being exposed to the deal flow (seeing and being involved in the formation of new startup concepts) alone is priceless.
I recently vacated the CEO role of STORM to concentrate on Juan Great Leap. (I am still VERY involved in strategy and biz dev’t, though) Pao has assumed accountability for all day to day operations as its newly-minted CEO. So now we need a new head of technology. We need someone who also develops, but can do three crucial things: a) manage the current STORM tech team b) be involved in TRUE product development (using customer info to drive iterations), and c) represent the firm well in client meetings. Equity can be in play. We currently develop using PHP (but can be convinced to switch platforms).
Tired of the corporate grind? Send me an email ASAP!
For those asking, yes, to eliminate friction, you can pay the P500 fee at the event itself. Just send me an email at pcauton@yahoo.com to confirm your slot.
Like in the first event, I’m relying much on the trust factor here. Knowing that there are limited seats, please don’t flake, once you’ve made a reservation.
It will be a great talk. If you are a current web developer, I really recommend attending the event. Howard has so many useful insights on creating both value and revenue in the appstore environment. Below is a recent snapshot. If you are startup enthusiast, you will learn a lot about the startup process – Howard will talk about creating and closing different business until finally hitting it big with Mochibits.
Seeya!
Howard’s Word Stack app recent placing on the android appstore
WHAT: JUAN GREAT MEET 2: Pouncing Relentlessly on Opportunity
WHEN: 7:00pm, WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012
WHERE: Function Room 1, 28th floor Union Bank Plaza, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City
After the success of the first Juan Great Meet, I’ve been very eager to continue doing events like this.
I’ve decided to make it a series where we would invite different entrepreneurs to give talks on their startup journeys, and then a question-and-answer portion. Then, like what worked so well before, we can have small group sharing/networking.
The difference this time is that I would need to be charging for the event (or my wife will strangle me) to cover some expenses. Just P500 though, and will already include the usual entrepreneur staple: Pizza.
The next entrepreneur talk is pretty exciting and I’m sure will be a tremendous learning opportunity.
Howard Go is the co-founder of Mochibits, Inc., an ultra-lean startup which has been creating money-making games on the Apple and Android App Stores for the past two years. Their most successful apps (SWIPETAPTAP, WORD TO WORD, and WORD STACK) have each been featured at one point by either Apple’s App Store or Amazon’s App Store.
Howard will talk all about his startup journey, which includes his own escape from the corporate jungle, putting up and closing down different businesses, and ultimately entering and thriving in the app development world.
I do know one thing: his pointers on what not to do and what to do when releasing an app is worth the price of ten admissions!
So if you are interested in:
– learning how to put up a lean tech startup, or
– how to create an app factory, or
– how to monetize apps, or
– hear an example of how someone jumped from the corporate life to form his startups,
…then reserve a slot now (limited to 50 slots) !
To reserve a slot, please deposit P500 to this BPI account:
BPI ACCOUNT: 3300-2024-53
And then you can either email me a copy of the deposit slip picture at pcauton@yahoo.com, or fax it at 02-5769358 (request for faxtone).
(UPDATE: Yes, you can pay at the event itself. Just reserve your slot by sending me an email at pcauton@yahoo.com. I trust you, please don’t flake!)
I thought it was over, but we managed to overcome so much adversity. In the end, it was soooo much worth it!”
Of course, we keep on hearing this about those who’ve taken the great leap from corporate to entrepreneur, right? The insane difficulty and the inevitable phoenix-like rise to the top.
But what exactly makes it difficult? What are the exact changes felt?
I’d like to highlight some of the things I felt and observed when I made my own leap, almost exactly 3 years ago today:
1) I WAS DOUBTING PETER
From ten years of structured work with a boss, I suddenly now called ALL the shots. I went from doing final interviews and creating performance management systems as an HR Manager to suddenly deciding what to build, who to market to, how to handle finances, and how exactly to spend my time. There was nothing in corporate that could’ve prepared me for it.
I remember smiling and facing the STORM team to tell them I was going to be fulltime: about how excited I was and we’d get to do all sorts of things. While I was confident and optimistic, I was at the same time wracked with doubt.
What if I’m wrong?
In retrospect, having a team to lead also helped a lot: you’re forced to live up to the confidence you WANT to exude around them.
After some time, did end up getting used to it, largely because no matter what happens, you realize you don’t get fired.
Now, there is still doubt, with the difference being the knowledge that doubt really comes with the territory of doing new things. So the focus becomes – let’s do this fast, so if it doesn’t work, we learn and adjust fast as well.
2) THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A SALARY
The whole point of a salary revolves around its consistency – every two weeks you get it, and what you get is exactly the same month after month.
If that’s what a salary is, then sorry, but you don’t get that.
I thought I gave myself a salary when I started fulltime for STORM, but it turns out, what I gave myself was an upper limit: I would usually get something lower, and what I would get would vary each time.
Why? Simply because startups struggle in their first years, if not altogether folding.
It was the time when I understood when A/R was really all about. Sometimes, clients just don’t pay on time – and it could be for inane reasons (like “the accountant is absent” or “the check is in the drawer and the person with the key is on VL”). Of course, they don’t really know (or care) that you’ve been banking on that check for everything.
Gosh, I hate receivables.
3) YOU NEED YOUR SPOUSE TO BE THERE FOR YOU
So in essence I told my wife, who just gave birth to our firstborn, that I was going to take an 85% pay cut to pursue my dream during the recession.
She had EVERY RIGHT to say something like:
“WTH?! Did you hit your head somewhere? Think about your son! Wait a bit first until the firm is more stable to give you higher pay”
And you know what? Thinking about it now, if she told me that, I probably would not have taken my leap when I did. And not doing so at that time would have killed STORM.
She continued to believe in me during the times relatives doubted my choice, or when there were more bad news, or when we had to tighten our belts.
My wife had faith in me.
And that made all the difference.
4) YOU WILL NEED TO FIRE FRIENDS
As a former HR leader, it was usual for me to fire people. That doesn’t mean it would be any easier in my own firms. In fact, it’s harder, because in a smaller team, I worked directly with everyone. They’re friends.
There will be hiring mistakes though. I think one big weakness we have had in STORM is that Pao and I have cream puffs for hearts, so we delay and delay.
Indecision like this can kill startups, because it isn’t built to carry deadweight like larger firms can. You just need to realize any delay isn’t doing anyone a favor and just do it.
5) IT’S TOUGH TO LEARN FROM MISTAKES
The cliché is true – mistakes will be where you will learn from the most. What they don’t say is how difficult this is to go through. In a lot of times, the lesson gets ingrained in you precisely because the bitter pill was tough to swallow.
In a startup, a mistake can make you miss a pay period. A bad hire can lead to extreme frustration. It can mean the loss of an important client. A series of mistakes can lead to further self-doubt and paralysis.
But this is something you have to learn to deal with and embrace, because it WILL happen. I do think these battle scars are precisely what makes an entrepreneur a true entrepreneur.
(Subscribe to Juan Great Leap now to receive the newsletter and be invited to the forum!)
It was then that I realized something – what I really wanted to do was to help people build startups! And so over the last few months, I’ve tried to crank out a system which could help me: a) manage all the existing startups, b) build a value-multiplying ecosystem, and c) create even more startups with more people!
(It was an idea I initially called Bizkitchen, but the more I thought of it, the more I realized it made more sense to do it under the Juan Great Leap platform)
The system’s wheels are slowly churning: we are set to release around 2-3 more exciting startup concepts in 2012, with several more in deep incubation.
We plan to release 4-6 startup concepts every year from hereon.
How is this lab different from Startup Accelerators like Startup Weekend or programs like Smart’s Ideaspace or Globe’s Kickstart program?
Well, for starters, you can’t “join” this lab. It isn’t event-based. We create startups in a more grassroots manner. We seek ideas and people out, then if an idea captures our imagination – we try to quickly build a company from scratch: from picking the right founders, to testing the idea using lean startup methodologies, to releasing MVP’s, and ultimately launching. The approach is very organic.
Another very different mindset we have is the inclination towards the bootstrapped approach. One trend we see now is the immediate tendency for entrepreneurs to approach investors, usually sacrificing equity, control, and freedom.
Sometimes, funding is exactly what a business needs to start. Sometimes though, it just isn’t. You CAN bootstrap and be profitable (take a look at this). You can retain equity and control and love what you’re doing. It should always be the first option. At the very least, you can create traction, which in turn, creates a whole lot more bargaining power for you at the investor’s negotiation table.
So wait, if I have an idea for a startup, can this incubator help me?
Yep. And you don’t need to join any event, or do a pitch, or submit a business plan. All you need to do is to email me at pcauton@yahoo.com and request a coffetalk with me.
We can help you:
refine the idea
outline a plan of attack
set you up with co-founders (if you need)
manage your back-end functions: admin, HR, accounting, etc…
recruit your first, critical employees
set-up your first office within our premises or outside
share contacts and resources with ALL the member startups
source your funding
create a calendar of transition from part-time to fulltime in the startup
test your ideas using lean startup methodology
So what are you waiting for? Take one great leap!
We’ll help you piece your unique startup puzzle together
Uhm…no offense dodo, but you even looked the part!
Unfortunately for the species, the dodo remains synonymous for concepts or objects which have become obsolete due to failure to evolve.
When I graduated in 1997, the following industries were kings of the the roost. They are now dead or are shadows of their former selves – all in just 15 years.
Record Stores – remember shops like Odyssey and Music One?
Today, everything in this room can fit in the phone in my pocket
Newspapers – My dad used to get 3 newspapers for the house daily. And that Sunday Manila Bulletin edition was thicker than the Bible. Now? My dad goes online for his news. Manila Bulletin is now as thick as a comic book.
Video and Game Rentals – ACA Video anyone?
Landlines – I’m not really sure why we got a landline for our house. I think it was because of the bundled package with the internet. It NEVER rings anymore.
Point and Shoot Cameras (not SLR’s) – the lining was on the wall when the smartphone camera specs started getting better and better. Then the iPhone 4-S came out and was essentially the straw which broke the camel’s back.
Photo Developing Shops – These shops seemed to be in every other commercial block at one point. Now you hardly see one.
Encyclopedias – Remember Collier’s, World Book, and Britannica?
These are some of the industries which I think would be in quick decline from hereon:
The PC – Have you seen how cheap laptops now are? It’s also worth noting that the Macs, while still selling well, are now Apple’s lowest-selling machines next to phones and tablets.
Book Publishing – Did you know you can now self-publish in Amazon? (and according to a lot of authors, make MORE money)
Brick and Mortar Bookstores – I used to think, “There would always be a need for a book! It’s a different feeling to turn actual pages.” Then I got an iPad and was introduced to ebooks and Amazon online. From buying a book almost every month just 2 years ago, I haven’t bought a physical book ever since.
(What do you think is on the verge? Hit the comments!)
It’s not surprising that we see industries come and go. What is staggering to observe is the rate of human adoption – and therefore, disruption. How much time did it take for books to gain prominence? Hundreds of years. What about newspapers? Landlines? Record shops? Cameras? The PC? Decades.
Now? You can change the world (and make something obsolete) in months, or even weeks. Just visit the likes of techcrunch and mashable to find proof.
What does this mean?
No one’s job is safe.
Nowadays, it’s dangerous to become a one-trick pony. (Hello, cobol programmers) You have to be a lifelong learner.
Nowadays, you have to become an expert in becoming an expert. You have to do it fast, too.
Nowadays, you have to deal with the ambiguity that comes when technology disrupts markets every other week.
Flexibility, learning fast, and managing ambiguity?
Sounds awfully like what an entrepreneur does.
(Subscribe now to Juan Great Leap and never miss a post!)
In his delightful book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell states that for someone to be “great” at something, he should have spent at least 10,000 hours honing and perfecting this skill.
The famous 10,000-Hour Rule
He cites The Beatles and Bill Gates as examples.
The Beatles performed live in Hamburg, Germany over 1,200 times from 1960 to 1964, amassing more than 10,000 hours of playing time, therefore meeting the 10,000-Hour Rule. They used all that time to hone and perfect their music. According to Beatles biographer Philip Norman, by the time they got back to England from Germany, “they sounded like no one else. It was the making of them.”
Gates met the 10,000-Hour Rule when he gained access to a high school computer in 1968 at the age of 13, and spent 10,000 hours programming on it.
In Outliers, Gladwell interviews Gates, who says that unique access to a computer at a time when they were not commonplace helped him succeed. Without that access, Gladwell states that Gates would still be “a highly intelligent, driven, charming person and a successful professional,” but that he might not be worth US$50 billion.
Gladwell explains that reaching the 10,000-Hour Rule, which he considers the key to success in any field, is simply a matter of practicing a specific task that can be accomplished with 20 hours of work a week for 10 years. He also notes that he himself took exactly 10 years to meet the 10,000-Hour Rule, during his brief tenure at The American Spectator and his more recent job at Washington Post.
Now, let’s apply this to entrepreneurship.
Think about the great entrepreneurs you know. What do people like Henry Sy and John Gokongwei have in common? They began honing their entrepreneurial skills very early on – as teenagers! Imagine the skills they built early on – negotiating, sales, financial savvy, handling pressure (they didn’t eat if they didn’t earn) – all essential entrepreneurial skills. They got to 10,000 real early,cumulatively applying what they learned onto their new ventures.
Steve Jobs started as a teenager. Richard Branson started his first business, a magazine called Student, when he was 16. Investor extraordinaire Warren Buffet did odd jobs and “buy and sell” as a child. Buffet bought his first shares at the age of 11. Jollibee’s Tony Tan Caktiong spent his teenage years helping with the family’s restaurant business in Davao he built the ice cream parlors that would later morph into Jollibee.
I could go on and on.
Gladwell makes a lot of sense. The more experience you gain as an entrepreneur, the better at it you become. I remember telling people that if there was one thing I regretted in my entrepreneurial career – it was that I could’ve started sooner. (I started at 30) I would’ve made my mistakes earlier. I would’ve applied my learnings faster.
I would be a much better entrepreneur now had I started earlier – I have absolutely no doubt about that.
Time on the job is essential. Sorry, but whatever time you spend in corporate does NOT apply.
JUAN GREAT LEAP 