The Resilient Founder

4Obstacles and Frustrations

Competitive dynamics, raising capital, managing cash flows, motivating teams … a never-ending stream of obstacles and frustrations, small and big, occur each day.

The scale of problems we face is directly proportional to the size of the opportunity – the game we have chosen to play. When faced with insurmountable obstacles, we often fantasize and design our escape plans. Running away – be it to a beach resort or a meditation camp – seems like a much better option. Numbing ourselves with alcohol, drugs, comfort food, Netflix binges, or other distractions are proven escape mechanisms. The obstacles can cause paralysis, confusion, and it can stall our engines. How can we ensure that the inner balance can be maintained and strengthened at each step?

In looking at the start-up journey, three areas of obstacles and friction arise:

1. The incumbents and legacy companies – the old – will often fight the new. Naturally, these companies have a turf to protect and they would be unwilling to yield.
2. Resources needed – money, people, and time – to reach our goals.
3. Our focus – on gaining rewards versus the process.

BARRIERS TO ENTRY – THE OLD VERSUS THE NEW

When Marc Andreesseen launched Netscape, one of the world's first web browsers, it's adoption rate was meteoric. Netscape owned 90% of the market share and went public, creating wealth and triggering a boom of dot-com innovations. Not to be left behind, Microsoft threw an army of resources and launched Internet ...