Think Like a Startup, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 13 Instant startup entrepreneur

Maybe you’ve read all this cool stuff on upskilling your knowledge bank, future-proofing or changing your career and de-risking your financial position, but deep down in your soul you still hanker for your own startup. Good. That’s what I’ve been leading towards all along, because in my view it is the greatest thing anyone can do with their career. A business or startup has added benefits, because when something is bigger than you, you can start to contribute important things to the community, like employment for others, improved products and services, and even social outcomes. So let’s get to it and start something from scratch right now. But before we do that, let’s get one thing clear: going all in is a terrible idea.

All or nothing is terrible advice

You’ve heard the story about burning your boats, right? Legend has it that when in 1519 the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived in the New World with 600 men, he ordered them to burn their ships. There was to be no turning back; they were totally committed to his perilous plan to plunder the riches of the Aztec empire. Here’s the thing: Hernán was kind of like Google or Apple today, with incredible resources at his disposal. And us? Well, we are not Hernán. We are living comfortably in a developed country. We would probably not die for startup success. We, in the modern world, should be smart enough to be able to ignore this advice.

I’ve personally undertaken a lot of startups — more ...