Three Lies about Entrepreneurship

Having launched two companies (Butcherbox and CustomMade) and multiple "side hustles" over the past 13 years, I have had an interesting experience being an entrepreneur and watching the culture of entrepreneurship grow around me. I have found myself mentoring multiple people through what I call, "the three lies about entrepreneurship", and thought I would cast a wider net by writing about it here. If one person changes their approach as a result of reading this, I will be thrilled. So here it goes, the three lies, in order of highest damage:

1. "Hustle Culture" is a Lie
2. "You need to take outside capital to build something meaningful" is a Lie
3. "You need a great idea to start" is a Lie

"Hustle Culture" is a Lie

Hustle Culture is the misconception that to be an entrepreneur, you must sacrifice everything for the sake of the company. This could be: Your health (mental or physical), your friends, your time, your weekends, your ability to have time with your kids, your family dinners, etc. I oftentimes hear (real quotes):

"I can't start a company right now, I need to be home... so I'll keep working 60hours at x,y,z job until my kids are older"

"I know once I start, I'll just want to spend every waking moment 'crushing it'... so now isn't the time"

"I am totally burned out, but I need to be the first one in the office and the last one to lead because the lead dog sets the pace"

The best entrepreneurs I know have spent time thinking about lifestyle design, and how being an entrepreneur can help them achieve that. They move their schedule around to accommodate and achieve what they want. They might not work one day a week to be with their children, they might not take meetings in the morning to be with their family. They might leave mid-way through the day to exercise and maintain good health and energy. They set boundaries and try to stick to them. They certainly do not fall for the lie that you need to sacrifice everything to succeed...

I recognize it's not always easy to keep your boundaries, but in my experience, when you are burning all ends of the candle, its time to make a hire, or do something different, not dig in deeper. You are not productive if you are working all the time. Plain and simple. Realizing that doesn't mean you are not hustling.. it means you are living!

You need to take outside capital to build something meaningful is a lie

Big one here. The tech news has been co-opted by funding stories, going public stories, or M&A stories. Much of this has to do with the fact that those are easy stories to write for reporters. But it has set up a lie that people believe which is you need outside capital or venture capital to start a company. Not true. I have found the work that Founder Collective (a VC no less) has shared in this space to be most compelling.

Having started and run both a company that took $29M of outside capital, and my current company that started on Kickstarter and raised no outside capital, I can speak from experience that lifestyle (see point one) is better with no investors, business model is better with no investors, and our time horizon is able to be much longer. In order for ButcherBox to succeed, we want to change the industry, and we recognize that this goal might need more time, rather than rushing for an exit or another round.

One disclaimer: I do recognize that some companies have a high investment need, but not every company is SpaceX. So I strongly urge you to do the work to figure out how to make your company work with little to no outside capital.

You need a great idea to start is a Lie

Most great entrepreneurs I know didn't start with the idea they are on; they started with a goal to be an entrepreneur, and just got going. When I meet someone who aspires to have their own company, they are generally fixated on the big idea, not on the lifestyle. So what if you did this:

-Start with lifestyle design. What kind of lifestyle do you want to have? What does your schedule look like? Where are you and what are you doing? How much money do you need? How much runway (savings) do you have to start getting this?

-Based on money needs, look at what you can do to start bringing those funds in. What are your skills, what are you passionate about, what do you think the world needs? At that intersection, just get started. And then keep your ears and eyes open for pivots and opportunities. Most companies didn't start out the way they were intended, so try not to put so much pressure on the initial idea, and certainly don't wait to have everything figured out. Just take a step.

-Limit your risk by having multiple ideas that you are progressing. When I started ButcherBox, I was considering two other businesses, ButcherBox happened to be the one that passed my first few tests and proved itself worthy of doing a Kickstarter. The rest is history.

In Conclusion

My advice... be your own person, build your own company the way you want to build it. Focus on delighting your customers, pivoting your business(es), and not working yourself into the ground. Limit your consumption of tech media, and find mentors and people who can help you think differently. Entrepreneurship is hard enough without the lies!