Don’t let your drive steer you down a dead end.
Enthusiasm is a necessary piece of the personality puzzle for a startup founder. You took the leap and started your business because you believe in it. Whether you’re solving a major tech problem, disrupting a stagnant industry or providing a service that will make life more enjoyable, you’ve reached your current level of success because you’re confident in your concept or product. It’s not cockiness or ego but a natural extension of hard work and faith that your ideas are valuable.
There’s no need to sell yourself on what you’re doing because you’re already all in. But that’s not necessarily true of the VCs and other investors who will help your startup get where it needs to go.
“Startup tunnel vision is one of the few negative consequences of the courage and self-assurance of the entrepreneurial spirit, says Robert Gerov, Founder of VokSEO.“If you remain too focused on your confident belief in what you’re doing, it can be difficult to shift gears and put yourself in the shoes of a skeptical investor. It’s easy to believe that everyone will share your enthusiasm for such a brilliant concept, but that kind of confidence can actually hold you back”, he concluded.
There are so many different ways that startup founders can get in their own way and undermine their success. We’ve all seen dramatic examples of this in news stories about bad-boy behavior, but I’ve seen it happen in much subtler ways. The boldness that drives founders to dare greatly can cause a disconnect that makes it difficult to get the support you need on your journey to the top. If you can’t widen your focus to include the viewpoint of people who aren’t yet convinced, you’re getting in your own way.
That perspective, the viewpoint of a skeptic, can be an uncomfortable place for a founder to go, but I’ve found that it’s an important part of the fundraising process. Investors want to see that you can offer them…