The Entrepreneur’s Burden

What does success look like?

“Entrepreneur: Someone who jumps off a cliff and builds a plane on the way down.”

This quote caught my eye as I perused Instagram a few days ago. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. The truth is I’ve had to rekindle my love for the word “entrepreneur”. It’s a word riddled by society’s expectations of “cashing in” and a fast-track to buying everything a person doesn’t need. For others, it might be synonymous to the cover of a trendy business magazine or a write-up on TechCrunch.

Just like the word “creative”, the word “entrepreneur” has also been hijacked. No longer identified as a process, but a title. And we all know titles don’t mean much.

This title has changed my life.

Recently, wearing the label “entrepreneur” has landed my wife and I in a series of marriage counseling sessions. It’s forced me to sacrifice invaluable time away from my one-year old. It’s pushed me to open my computer on holidays. Somewhere a workaholic emerged in the path of uncertainty. I lost track of 9 to 5. I began to make decisions I never dreamed I’d make.

I’ve learned to part ways. I’ve learned to say no. I’ve learned friends and work don’t always mix (and vice versa). I’ve learned that entrepreneurship often means employment policies, reconciled accounts, team dynamics, occasional missed deadlines, taxes, and a lot of emails.

…emails that suck my soul away…

It’s these simple moments that remind me I’m human. I’m more than a company name and job title riddled with expectation. The moment I go outside at night and look up at the stars is the only reminder I need to know my place in this world.

[ZOOM OUT] Currently, the Earth is spinning through space at 1,000 miles per hour. As the Earth spins it’s also moving around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour. Heck, our galaxy (the Milky Way) has 200-400 billion stars, but when you look up into the night sky the most you can see from any point on the Earth is about 2,500. [1]

[ZOOM IN] I’m the entrepreneur. An entrepreneur amongst 7 billion other people in the world.

My intent is to never fall short of an expectation or manipulate my way to the top. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. There’s no prouder moment I’ve had as an entrepreneur than in the moments the people I’ve hired tell me they’re buying a house or share with me a life accomplishment. They’re able to pay their bills and do meaningful work because I jumped off a cliff to catch an idea.

The truth is the folks on my team will never have to experience what the very beginning was like. Building a business from a kitchen table and any coffee shop that had free Wi-Fi. Those are days I’ll never forget, nor take for granted.

The notion of “world domination” has never been my motive. In fact, starting a company was a means to support my family and do something I love. Both core aspects to who I am and worth fighting for.

The burden of the entrepreneur far outweighs any financial projection or business model. For me, it’s a burden that has resulted in countless all-nighters, thousands of emails, and continuous soul-searching. The burden of the entrepreneur can be answered by one simple, but terrifying question:

What does success look like?

Everyone defines success differently, but understanding what success looks like is what keeps me up at night. Success is the entrepreneur’s burden.

Success for today. Success for this week. Success for the next thirty years. Success for my family. Success for my employees. Success for me.

Today, I’m comforted by the words of Benjamin Franklin:

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.

Onward.