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I've stopped reading books and blogs from company founders who have never had to weather a storm. If I hear on a podcast intro that "Company X has been profita

I've stopped reading books and blogs from company founders who have never had to weather a storm. If I hear on a podcast intro that "Company X has been profitable since day 1 and have grown 100% per year for the past decade" then I usually skip to the next podcast. I'd rather hear from company founders who have faced months of living on ramen, and had days of not being able to make payroll, or who have had to deal with a PR nightmare or a valued staff member having to leave at an inopportune time. These are the situations that are part and parcel of most company's day to day struggles, and people who have never experienced those things (or don't talk about them at all) really don't have anything to say that I would take time to listen to.

koonsolo 7y ago
According to what I read, all "Company X has been profitable since day 1 and have grown 100% per year for the past decade" are actually what the press made of it, and behind the scenes took years of hard work with lots of setbacks and near death experiences.
dredmorbius 7y ago
Guy Raz's podcast "How I Built This" has been (for the few episodes I've listened to), surprisingly engaging. I don't consider myself to have an entrepreneurial mindset, and generally don't go for business hagiographies. The Spanx story, of all the damned things to start with, was impressive. With it and Lara Bars, getting into the store was only the start of the battle, and a lot of hustle was required to turn that beginning opportunity into success. (For all you idea people out there, ideas aren't even nearly enough. And yeah, that pains me to the bone.) https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this
Kwantuum 7y ago
Quote from the article: > Often, as we revel in stories of start-up founders who struggled their way through on cups of ramen before the tide finally turned on viral product launches, high team performance or strategic partnerships, we forget how many other founders did the same thing, in the same industry and perished… You're getting the wrong takeaway. It's not that people who made it with few hardships are bad examples, it's that anyone who made it is a bad example.

koonsolo 7y ago

According to what I read, all "Company X has been profitable since day 1 and have grown 100% per year for the past decade" are actually what the press made of it, and behind the scenes took years of hard work with lots of setbacks and near death experiences.

dredmorbius 7y ago

Guy Raz's podcast "How I Built This" has been (for the few episodes I've listened to), surprisingly engaging. I don't consider myself to have an entrepreneurial mindset, and generally don't go for business hagiographies. The Spanx story, of all the damned things to start with, was impressive. With it and Lara Bars, getting into the store was only the start of the battle, and a lot of hustle was required to turn that beginning opportunity into success. (For all you idea people out there, ideas aren't even nearly enough. And yeah, that pains me to the bone.) https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this

Kwantuum 7y ago

Quote from the article: > Often, as we revel in stories of start-up founders who struggled their way through on cups of ramen before the tide finally turned on viral product launches, high team performance or strategic partnerships, we forget how many other founders did the same thing, in the same industry and perished… You're getting the wrong takeaway. It's not that people who made it with few hardships are bad examples, it's that anyone who made it is a bad example.