Each chapter is made up of essays whose titles complete the following:
Under no circumstances should you...

Chap 1 - Getting Started - Thursday, August 6, 2009 10:25 - Comments

…Start A Company Because You Hate Your Job

I cannot tell you how many times I have spoken to entrepreneurs and colleagues who told me that they wanted to start a new company, or even looking to join a new, young company, because they "hate their job." Let me say this up front: if you are going to go and take the risk associated with a young company, please, please, please make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.

The very first question I ask someone when they come to me with that glimmer in their eye, the wanderlust effusing from within, spouting off about how great it’s going to be at this new company, or starting their own thing, is "are you running to something or from something?" It’s a pretty simple question, and one that is easy to misunderstand. The core principle is to determine if you have thought through what you are doing and understand the situation into which you plan to insert yourself.

The common fallacy about a new or young company is that you do only what you want to do. This is especially true if this new company is your own. Admit it. You’ve thought the same things:

1. I’ll get to make my own schedule
2. I’ll work on only the things that interest me
3. I won’t have to deal with anyone else’s shit

Unfortunately, these are all very, very wrong. So very wrong. One of the first things you will discover when you venture out on your own is that there is all this other "stuff" that needs to get done. Seemingly, all the time. Stuff that you don’t want to do, and will never find interesting.

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