Being an By Alex Letts I
t’s the moment you never imagined could possibly happen. After all, as an entrepreneur, you are the embodiment of optimism. You fix
stuff. You make things happen. But not this time.
Your start-up is doing well. Your investors are on side. The future of the business looks exceptional.
Trouble
is, the future is tomorrow and today the business just can’t pay you personally enough. You know that in 3 years you will be re-loaded, but right now, well, that’s a different issue.
Your previous start-ups did well; you made some money and lived the dream. The family home, the school fees, the cars and the holidays. But just not quite enough (it never is). The new start-up, at a time of deep recession, took longer to fund, even though it was in the biggest seed funded venture that year in the UK. Your personal reserves of capital are exhausted. Now you have to dismantle your family home, the comfortable life and the expectations. And, worst of all you have to tell your family. You have to tolerate the knowing look that flickers across the eyes of your relatives and worst of all, your chums. The same one you saw 20 years ago, but you proved them wrong then too. You know you will again. But it will take 3 years.
Welcome to the entrepreneur’s story that never gets told. It’s the much truer story than the airport books and the inspirational speeches. It’s an often lonely story of doggedness, inspiration,
14 entrepreneurcountry
entrepreneur: what the books never say
and the ability to get up and fight when every sensible metric says you should be dead. It’s a story of sacrifice for your family, who don’t share your buzz, but do share your risks. It’s the toughest story of them all. And it’s a story you don’t see in books.
Some people are born to be entrepreneurs. It’s in their DNA. These are the vast majority of people who start their own businesses. They won’t be put off by the risk and pain, because, hey, they know their idea is the best, will work and will make a
mint. And when they crash the bike, they just get a new one, remount and pedal on, head down into the wind and up the hill.
Most entrepreneurs are tough people, really tough, because very few people will ever put out a hand to help, and most are terrified in case you might actually succeed. Many are smart people too, because they quickly learn that for every Bill Gates, there’s a Boo. com, and for every Branson there’s a Beenz. For every boom there’s a bust, and whenever you’re raising money,
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