Will you take a parachute?
“Starting a company is like throwing yourself off the cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down”. Reid Hoffman tells that tale here, and elsewhere.
It’s a good analogy. In Reid’s version there’s no way back. You *have* to build the plane and pull out of the dive.
And that, however difficult, is what I think it should feel like as an entrepreneur if you are set on changing the world.
It’s not for everyone.
There’s the constant worry, the pressure, the self doubt, the arguments, the exhaustion. Then the coffee stops working. And in amongst that you have to build the plane.
So what if you could pack a parachute? All that pressure of building the plane changes when you have a parachute. If the pressure gets too much then you can jump out and pull the cord.
Some entrepreneurs I’ve met recently are leaving big companies to start small companies. They have well paid jobs and are leaving that behind to start a startup. Overall, good on them — the more of this the better.
However one commented that their employer has said they’d be welcomed back with open arms in the future if things don’t work out. He said it was like a sabbatical.
Massive. Red. Flag.
Tony Robbins is more direct. He says, “Burn the fucking boats”.
