Secrets to STARTUP SUCCESS

The Passion Trap

How Attachment to Your Idea Can Sabotage Your Startup

“If you want a recipe for a startup that's going to die, here it is: a couple of founders who have some great idea they know everyone is going to love, and that's what they're going to build, no matter what."

—Paul Graham, founder, Y Combinator

According to Greek mythology, a boy named Icarus and his father, Daedalus, were held as prisoners on the island of Crete with no pos­sible route of escape by land or by sea. But Daedalus, a skilled crafts­man and inventor, had developed a plan to escape through the air. He secretly built wings for himself and Icarus, using reeds and feath­ers held together by wax. As Daedalus attached the wings to his son’s arms, he warned him to fly at the right altitude. If he flew too low, the salt spray from ocean waves would soak his wings; if he flew too high, the heat of the sun would cause them to melt.

After escaping the island by flying out over the sea, Icarus was ex­hilarated by his newfound freedom. Despite his father’s warning cries, he flew higher and higher, circling closer to the hot sun where the

Melting wax and feathers began to separate from his arms. The wings disintegrated, and Icarus plunged to his death in the water that now bears his name, the Icarian Sea.

The tale of Icarus parallels a story I have watched unfold again and again among passionate entrepreneurs. You take a risky leap. You experience the elation of newfound freedom. You boldly fly higher with single-minded conviction, ignoring nay-sayers who shout warn­ings from below. Then you find yourself in some irreversible crisis with no way to overcome gravity’s downward pull.

The culprit in this story is something I call the passion trap, an all- too-real phenomenon that undermines many a new venture. The pas­sion trap has roots in a basic truth: Your intense devotion to your business concept can bring danger along with its obvious benefits. Pas­sion provides courage, energy, and optimism to propel you on your flight forward, but it also can blind and deafen you to helpful data and ideas. And it can lead you to believe that you’re somehow immune to typical startup risks that wise founders have learned to respect and manage.

Anyone who cares deeply about his or her startup idea is subject to being snared by the passion trap. It is an equal opportunity afflic­tion, governed by a set of well-known emotional patterns and biases that come with being human. Seasoned entrepreneurs and successful investors alike can recognize the damage done by unchecked or mis­directed passion.

The good news is that you can have it both ways. You can bring high-flying enthusiasm and confidence to your startup and also pro­tect yourself from being blinded—or blindsided—by your emotional attachment to an idea. Of the many forces that might derail your startup dreams, the passion trap is one that is squarely under your control. With awareness and the right practices, you can be certain that your entrepreneurial zeal will work for you rather than against you.

The purpose of this chapter is to explain why and how entrepre­neurs get caught in the passion trap and what happens when they do.

I’ll survey the damage done—in the form of six negative impacts of entrepreneurial passion—and examine the personality characteristics that predispose a person to getting caught in the trap. I’ll also share a list of early warning signs to help you assess your own vulnerability. Then, in the second part of this book, I’ll outline and explain six prin­ciples that will significantly elevate your odds of converting your big idea into a healthy, thriving business.