In my
last Memo from Silicon Valley I talked about how "entrepreneurs always find a way". That led me to think deeply about how they do that. What techniques, practices, skill sets and talents do they possess that guide and drive them to succeed?
I've had the privilege of working closely with many talented entrepreneurs over the years so I had a very rich pool of people to analyze in my attempt to answer that question.
I was looking for a consistent set of characteristics, themes, patterns that had led to success. I wanted to develop a profile I could apply in the future to identify entrepreneurs with a high likelihood of success.
What I found was each entrepreneur seemed to have something outstanding, but different going for them:
- Strong leadership
- Product superiority
- Focus
- Decisiveness
- Determination
- Right place/right time
But I was looking for consistency. Was there something else that they all had in common? As I reflected on each of their journeys to success I realized there were two things they all possessed: guts and connections.
Guts
- The guts to leave a deal on the table when it's a distraction.
- The guts to fire a person who is bringing the team down.
- The guts to bend the rules without breaking them.
- The guts to push forward when the way is not clear.
- The guts to stop and pivot before it's too late.
- The guts to say "I was wrong".
Connections
- They had the wisdom to know they could not do it alone.
- They constantly built connections to speed their journey.
- They understood networking was a two-way street.
- They used every interaction to expand their network.
- They gave back and paid forward.
- They built advisory networks.
- They created trust and loyalty in their network.
So, what does it take to succeed as an entrepreneur? Two essential ingredients are: guts and connections! While ANZA can't provide the guts, we certainly can and do serve as a "gut check" when you work with us. And, drawing on ANZA's world-class network, we can provide you with the connections.
We've been building connections for entrepreneurs for over a decade. We're looking for entrepreneurs with the guts to succeed.