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Abstract

eurs, however, are a different breed. A true entrepreneur doesn’t follow the crowd; they lead it. They’re the exception, not the rule. Fear probably isn’t the motivator that led them to go after formidable challenges and lofty, near-impossible pursuits. Instinctual (natural-born) entrepreneurs are driven by something very different, and the very thing that may improve or accelerate a non-entrepreneur’s productivity may actually work to the detriment of many a true entrepreneur.</p><h1 id="3664">The two types of pressure</h1><p id="9b51">I can work under pressure, but it’s definitely not my preference — and I don’t think it results in the highest-quality output. In fact, I think it significantly diminishes the potential quality of my output, and while that may be fine for a temporary job or a short-term assignment, that’s not the type of quality I’d want any of my businesses to deliver.</p><p id="379c">I’m not saying all pressure is bad for entrepreneurs. I’m simply suggesting that the idea all entrepreneurs need to burn the ships and make failure synonymous with extreme survival-threatening consequences may not be the blanket recipe for success. In fact, that fear-inducing high-stakes desperation-fueled motivation just may be the limiting factor that imposes a glass ceiling on the future success of survival-seeking entrepreneurs.</p><p id="9898">There are two types of pressure that weigh on our actions and decisions: external and intrinsic.</p><h2 id="3bfb">External:</h2><ul><li>A boss</li><li>Arbitrary project deadlines</li><li>Customer or client requests</li><li>Job requirements and the fear of getting fired</li></ul><h2 id="7c5d">Intrinsic:</h2><ul><li>Wanting to make a positive impact on people or the world</li><li>A deep desire to build a legacy that lives on beyond you</li><li>A passion for building, growing, creating, and problem-solving (because it brings you true joy and fulfillment)</li></ul><p id="2c53">Most jobs and startups have some combination of both external and intrinsic pressures. For example, some employees have the intrinsic desire, drive, and ambition to go above and beyond for their boss, their company, and their clients. They may be so driven by intrinsic pressure that the external pressures seem negligible in comparison.</p><p id="964e">Likewise, some entrepreneurs may be driven by external pressures, such as building a company out of desperation after losing a job, suffering a major financial or life setback, or feeling the fire under their butts to put food on the table for their families.</p><p id="ad75">These outliers don’t change the fact that external pressure is not enough to create the next great $1 billion unico

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rn startup.</p><h1 id="4da7">Why survival instincts don’t produce unicorns</h1><p id="ec1a">I firmly reject the idea that most entrepreneurs start companies and vow to take them to the moon out of desperation or the external pressure to work their way out of a frightening financial hole. For most people, there are many faster and easier ways to secure an income stream and support a family than through entrepreneurship. Even if entrepreneurship were your only or best bet option, you wouldn’t feel the need to continue to give it your all and grow your startup to unicorn status if it were simply a matter of survival.</p><p id="337f">Many of us can survive on 6-figures a year; so why would you feel the need to work towards 7 or 8? At that point, entrepreneurship isn’t about desperation, survival, or the external pressures and arbitrary time-crunches that make people run around like maniacs, rushing projects, and working all hours of the night on one more client deliverable. At that point, it’s not about “need”; <i>it’s about “want”</i>.</p><p id="c09e">There you have it — <i>survivalism debunked</i>. Desperation might incite a few startups’ early beginnings, but it can’t be the long-term secret to their success.</p><p id="e7f1">I’d like to posit that real, passionate, lifelong entrepreneurs (and those who aspire to that career) do so out of a desire spawned by intrinsic pressure and goals placed on them by no one but themselves.</p><h1 id="04bc">The secret to breeding unicorns</h1><p id="83b7">Breeding unicorns — or building limitless ventures with billion-dollar aspirations — requires long-term visionary thinking and a founder willing to take calculated risks, consider speculative opportunities, and seek expansion.</p><p id="59f7">That’s part of why I so firmly believe in building in <a href="https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/why-a-second-job-may-be-the-key-to-startup-success-9ba6c6e74267">some forms of side income, stability, or security early on in one’s entrepreneurial journey</a>. Building in that peace of mind and removing that short-term desperation and survival mindset (which can instigate short-sighted decision-making) is the key to making decisions in the best long-term interest of your startup.</p><p id="061b">If resourcefulness is the secret to success in entrepreneurship, desperation is the secret to subpar results and the gateway to failure. No matter how unpopular my opinion, I don’t believe real entrepreneurs need that outside push. Entrepreneurship is a different game of survival, and those who want it badly enough will make it happen — without the pressures of a threatening boss, nagging parent, or needy client.</p></article></body>

Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Work Best Under Pressure

Are you destined for a side hustle or a billion-dollar unicorn?

If you’ve ever heard the phrase “burn the ships”, you’re probably familiar with the idea that in order to successfully launch an entrepreneurial career, you need a swift kick in the butt. You need to quit your job, cut off all outside distractions, eliminate any financial safety net that would make failure acceptable, and go “all in” until you make your first self-employed, entrepreneurial 6- or 7-figures. You might even believe that’s the only way or the fastest or most effective way to generate entrepreneurial success.

For some people, that might be required to initiate their fight or flight instinct and lead them to entrepreneurial success as a means of survival. However, those people aren’t the natural-born, instinct-driven entrepreneurs.

As a self-employed entrepreneur running multiple businesses and someone who’s also been an employee in a high-pressure job, I’m here to tell you that many — possibly even most — entrepreneurs do not work best under arbitrary external pressure…and there’s a very good reason.

Conditioning might fool the masses, but not us

Unfortunately, our traditional education system lays on the external pressure from an early age, and it doesn’t let up even decades later, in our adult professional 9 to 5 jobs. In other words, most people are conditioned to believe external pressure should be the driving force of success in everything we do. Thus, it’s no wonder a large chunk of our population believes that a high-pressure, fear-inducing environment is necessary for them to achieve greatness. For average people and those that are 100% conditioned by the systems that raised them, this might actually be true.

Entrepreneurs, however, are a different breed. A true entrepreneur doesn’t follow the crowd; they lead it. They’re the exception, not the rule. Fear probably isn’t the motivator that led them to go after formidable challenges and lofty, near-impossible pursuits. Instinctual (natural-born) entrepreneurs are driven by something very different, and the very thing that may improve or accelerate a non-entrepreneur’s productivity may actually work to the detriment of many a true entrepreneur.

The two types of pressure

I can work under pressure, but it’s definitely not my preference — and I don’t think it results in the highest-quality output. In fact, I think it significantly diminishes the potential quality of my output, and while that may be fine for a temporary job or a short-term assignment, that’s not the type of quality I’d want any of my businesses to deliver.

I’m not saying all pressure is bad for entrepreneurs. I’m simply suggesting that the idea all entrepreneurs need to burn the ships and make failure synonymous with extreme survival-threatening consequences may not be the blanket recipe for success. In fact, that fear-inducing high-stakes desperation-fueled motivation just may be the limiting factor that imposes a glass ceiling on the future success of survival-seeking entrepreneurs.

There are two types of pressure that weigh on our actions and decisions: external and intrinsic.

External:

A boss
Arbitrary project deadlines
Customer or client requests
Job requirements and the fear of getting fired

Intrinsic:

Wanting to make a positive impact on people or the world
A deep desire to build a legacy that lives on beyond you
A passion for building, growing, creating, and problem-solving (because it brings you true joy and fulfillment)

Most jobs and startups have some combination of both external and intrinsic pressures. For example, some employees have the intrinsic desire, drive, and ambition to go above and beyond for their boss, their company, and their clients. They may be so driven by intrinsic pressure that the external pressures seem negligible in comparison.

Likewise, some entrepreneurs may be driven by external pressures, such as building a company out of desperation after losing a job, suffering a major financial or life setback, or feeling the fire under their butts to put food on the table for their families.

These outliers don’t change the fact that external pressure is not enough to create the next great $1 billion unicorn startup.

Why survival instincts don’t produce unicorns

I firmly reject the idea that most entrepreneurs start companies and vow to take them to the moon out of desperation or the external pressure to work their way out of a frightening financial hole. For most people, there are many faster and easier ways to secure an income stream and support a family than through entrepreneurship. Even if entrepreneurship were your only or best bet option, you wouldn’t feel the need to continue to give it your all and grow your startup to unicorn status if it were simply a matter of survival.

Many of us can survive on 6-figures a year; so why would you feel the need to work towards 7 or 8? At that point, entrepreneurship isn’t about desperation, survival, or the external pressures and arbitrary time-crunches that make people run around like maniacs, rushing projects, and working all hours of the night on one more client deliverable. At that point, it’s not about “need”; it’s about “want”.

There you have it — survivalism debunked. Desperation might incite a few startups’ early beginnings, but it can’t be the long-term secret to their success.

I’d like to posit that real, passionate, lifelong entrepreneurs (and those who aspire to that career) do so out of a desire spawned by intrinsic pressure and goals placed on them by no one but themselves.

The secret to breeding unicorns

Breeding unicorns — or building limitless ventures with billion-dollar aspirations — requires long-term visionary thinking and a founder willing to take calculated risks, consider speculative opportunities, and seek expansion.

That’s part of why I so firmly believe in building in some forms of side income, stability, or security early on in one’s entrepreneurial journey. Building in that peace of mind and removing that short-term desperation and survival mindset (which can instigate short-sighted decision-making) is the key to making decisions in the best long-term interest of your startup.

If resourcefulness is the secret to success in entrepreneurship, desperation is the secret to subpar results and the gateway to failure. No matter how unpopular my opinion, I don’t believe real entrepreneurs need that outside push. Entrepreneurship is a different game of survival, and those who want it badly enough will make it happen — without the pressures of a threatening boss, nagging parent, or needy client.