Читать книгу The Resilient Founder. Lessons in Endurance from Startup Entrepreneurs онлайн

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Meanwhile, the commercial battle rages on. Payroll needs to be managed, cash is low, competitors are chomping at the bit, and the team needs motivation and guidance.

Why do entrepreneurs make a conscious choice to jump into the battlefield, to put themselves in positions that most would not dare to? We know that at a deep level, all entrepreneurs are fundamentally abnormal, even irrational, because rational people rarely try to change the world. The irrational spirit is aching to fill a void, both in their psyches and in society. They suffer from cognitive dissonance, which is a fancy term for beliefs or behavior that are inconsistent. The odds are stacked against them. Start-ups fail at a very high rate, as much as 90% or more, yet entrepreneurs choose this path. We wonder why.

Working against all possible odds and every possible challenge, the founder chooses this form of self-torture in promise of a reward. She decides to leap over hurdles of innovation and technological development, building teams, gathering resources, selling products, ensuring growth, retaining healthy gross margins, defending her turf against competition. Under immense pressure to perpetually grow at a rapid pace, start-up founders are encouraged, expected, and cheered on to pump up revenues and valuation to keep the motivation and the momentum. If growth drops, everything scatters. People escape. Investors flee. Down rounds occur, and the company is declared as damaged goods. Pressure extends over into publicly traded companies, as the CEOs live and die by their quarterly earnings guidance.