A startup is a Ship an Entrepreneur is a sailor

I wonder what kind of people took to sailing a 100 or 200 years ago. The average sailor yearned for the sea, the sense of adventure, the thrill of the unknown. He loved the thrill of a new day the adventure of navigating new waters, reaching port and finally the sense of accomplishment when the cargo is unloaded safely at the destination.

In days gone by sailors were the envy of many a youth. They would regale people with stories of long lost lands they landed in, of ports where they saw and met new faces in unfamiliar languages. Stories of sea Storms and what courage it took to navigate them. The money is good if one stuck around on and the sense of adventure immense. Dare, Thrill, Risk and the lure of a pot of Gold if one made It, was what made sailors and adventurers of yore.

In today’s digital world, the equivalent thrill, is building a startup. It is the equivalent of the sailors of yore, who go out to challenge the world by trying to solve problems which beseech humanity. You fail everyday, you feel scared everyday, you hope something works out and then one day something works out, you feel happy and then put your nose to the grind to begin another day of struggle.

The safety of corporate life doesn’t appeal to the entrepreneur, they feel bored and wasted, yearning for the thrill of building something, scaling it up and then if it works taking it to its logical end ?- a Sale or an IPO.

This also begs the question what makes an entrepreneur, what qualities does it take to be one. Here are a few thoughts

i.????????????????????Curiosity : Are you someone who loved to do crazy things as a kid. Jumping off the roof, dismantling the TV, Breaking open the tape recorder to see the inside. Did you get scolded by your parents for the same. Well if you had that curiosity then you have one of the qualities that all Entrepreneurs have – they are curious. They never take the status quo and keep asking questions and are always curious to know more.

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ii.??????????????????Adventure : Did you hike the unknown trail, Did you mix chemicals in your chemistry lab just for the heck of it. Did you break rules because you felt, that you didn’t like following rules. Guess what, the exact things that got you into trouble as a kid, is what is needed to be an entrepreneur. The ability of buck the trend, break the mould, do something new

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iii.????????????????Failure : How often did you fail at something ? If you didn’t why didn’t you fail ? Was it because you were in your safe zone. Were you satisfied with just following last years papers and hoping that this years questions will be similar. Did you ask why stupid questions and were laughed at. The ability to overcome the fear of failure is the most important trait that we could learn as a child to be an Entrepreneur. Keep trying and keep failing coz if you don’t try enough you will never take your idea to the edge of success

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iv.????????????????Weakness : Find out what you are weak at. Invest in yourself but keep finding what you are not good at. Instead of trying to spend a lot of time building on what you are not good at, be smart enough to find others who could do it for you. In school or college it would mean taking the help of friends who could explain you the concepts. In the real world it would mean getting the right partner and the right team who are strong in areas where you know little.

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v.??????????????????Communication : The ability to communicate is the most innate skill that all leaders have. The most important thing that an entrepreneur does is communicate his/her vision to the team, the other stakeholders, to the market, their clients. So learn to communicate and be as natural as possible

A sailor will eventually go out to sea, a true entrepreneur will always go back to building the next solution to the next problem. The sailor’s means to his/her goal is the ship, the entrepreneur has his/her startup. ?