Daring Greatly

The best entrepreneurs view themselves as forces for creative destruction, changing the world through sheer force of will. They are often motivated not by job security or traditional measures of prestige, but by the opportunity to swing for the fences. What keeps them going in the face of the huge odds against their "success?" How do they soldier on when times look tough? 

Ask any entrepreneur who has "made it," and they will have a personal story about overcoming great obstacles through sheer determination. Like a dog that won't give up a bone.

In the Spring of 2001 the company I had cofounded was almost out of money; we were 2 weeks away from having to lay off our 20 employees, close our doors, and "get real jobs." To relieve the constant stress I would go to the Dunwoody High School track and run a few laps. At the track was a plaque inscribed with Teddy Roosevelt's "Man In The Arena" that helped me keep going:

It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

To all of you budding Shotput entrepreneurs out there: I hope that you will enter the arena, that you will know the great enthusiasms, and that you will Dare Greatly!