
2 IThe
Ten
Roads
to Riches
I
Be warned:
This
road's
not
for the faint-hearted. It requires courage,
discipline, Teflon skin, strategic vision, a talented supporting cast,
and maybe luck.
Those
lacking entrepreneurial spirit needn't
apply-nor
folks who are fear-driven .
No
mistake, it's tough. Few new businesses survive more than four
years.' But starting a business is the American Dream. Succeeding is
the realm of supermen and superwomen.
The
key to success is a novel
twist making what you do
different-the
difference that works.
Are you a person who can't be stopped? Can you, as Phil
Knight would say, "Just do it"? You must be great at your core busi-
ness and the
business
of
business. Vision alone won't do! You need
acumen, charisma, tactical thinking, and leadership skills. I've never
met
a successful founder folks didn't want
to
follow.
They're
just
super.
They
know their
product
cold.
They're
skilled at sales and
marketing.
They
become great delegators.
They
also build a com-
mon
culture into repeated waves of new employees so their firm
takes on a life
of
its own beyond the
CEO.
This
is a tall order.
Before you start down this road, you must answer five critical
questions:
1.
What
part
of
the world can you change?
2. Will you create a new product or innovate an existing one?
3. Will you build a firm to sell or
one
to
last?
4. Will you need outside funding or can you bootstrap?
5. Will you stay private or go
IPO?
PICKING
A
PATH
First
question-what ...