Don’t Dip Your Toe in the Water: Go for It

Yesterday I met a really successful entrepreneur.  They had built companies their whole life.  Some went IPO. Some just got acquired.  One of the most interesting things about the conversation was that when it was time to press the button and do something, they went for it. No turning back. No safety net.

One example.  They had an idea.  They did the tech.  They took it to a very small group of potential customers and worked out the bugs.  Once it working, they had to make a decision.

Do we hire a big sales force, or do we hire one-two salespeople and see how it goes?

They took the monthly burn hit and hired the big sales force.  If they were going to go for it,  they were going balls to the wall.  Sales numbers went up.  The company grew.  The company iterated.  Eventually, it got big.

From the entrepreneurs perspective, once they get the product built and ready, they often try to limit their burn. Some of that is the VCs fault.  Many VCs won’t invest until they see some big time customer traction.  But, some of it is inside the entrepreneur.  It’s the fear of actually doing it.

Conquer that fear.  Once you have something you can sell to customers put the pedal to the metal.  That’s how you get big.