Startup Communities, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER TENCONTRASTS BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURS AND GOVERNMENT

A reliance on government is one of the classic problems in startup communities that I discussed earlier. We routinely anthropomorphize government and say things like “Our government did X.”

Although it's easy to fall into the trap of viewing government as an abstract entity, especially given the amount of time and energy it consumes around specific issues, it's important to always remember that government is a collection of people. Many of them are well intentioned, especially around anything that creates jobs or new tax revenue, but they often have no understanding of what entrepreneurs do or the pressures they face.

However, if you understand a few differences between entrepreneurs and government (and I recognize I'm anthropomorphizing in this case), entrepreneurial leaders can effectively incorporate government into a startup community. Let's go a little deeper on this topic and explore what government can do to be helpful.

SELF‐AWARE VERSUS NOT SELF‐AWARE

Great entrepreneurs are intensely self‐aware. They know exactly what they are bad at and describe it often, as in, “This is what I suck at.” Government leaders rarely talk this way. Entrepreneurs fail often and own it; government leaders rationalize why something didn't go their way. Entrepreneurs are directly critical of themselves and others and support their viewpoints with data. Government leaders work to “impact public opinion.” It's a different vocabulary ...