FOUNDER MISALIGNMENT
New entrepreneurs often struggle to find the best fit between what they personally bring to the table (strengths, weaknesses, needs, and hopes) and what the new business requires. The more …
The Damage Done: Six Negative Impacts of Entrepreneurial Passion
Why should an aspiring entrepreneur be concerned about passion? What kind of startup problems are caused by misdirected enthusiasm? Among a range of impacts, the most common negative consequences fall …
What Is the Passion Trap?
The passion trap is a self-reinforcing spiral of beliefs, choices, and actions that lead to critical miscalculations and missteps, mistakes such as significantly underestimating what is required to get a …
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 …
If You Build It, Will They Come?
Lynn Ivey’s unshakeable commitment to her cause has come down to this. Three and a half years after she has left her bank job, she and I are sitting in …
AND NOW, A WORD FROM THE UNIVERSE
Students of religion, philosophy, or self-help will note that the motivational atmosphere around entrepreneurship has a familiar ring. It mostly parallels historical traditions that encourage self-discovery and self-improvement. Celebrated U. …
RENEGADE PHYSICIST DISCOVERS 57 SECRET IDEAS THAT COULD MAKE YOU RICH!
Welcome to the Motivational Media. If you haven’t fully convinced yourself that your business idea has potential, or if you doubt you can pull it off, just turn on the …
THE WIDE WORLD OF MOTIVATION
It’s Saturday morning. You’ve decided to finally do something about that gnawing feeling of settling for someone else’s dreams. Today is the day you seize control. Coffee in hand, you …
YOUR FEEL-GOOD GANG
The entrepreneur’s path can be crushingly lonely. New founders must find and haul their own motivational fuel, building their store of inner resources. At the same time, nearly all successful …
BELIEFS MADE REAL
Why do we commit to certain business ideas and not others? How do our beliefs become so rock solid that they are virtually impossible to dislodge? Most businesspeople think of …
THE BONDING POWER OF CREATION
Leaders all over the world wrestle with the challenge of getting their team members to care deeply about the goals of a larger organization. They don’t understand how employees who …
Fanning the Flames of Commitment
Few things in life are as packed with emotion as hurtling down the startup path just beyond the point of no return. Even the most contained entrepreneur feels like he …
THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Like Archimedes leaping from his bath, there is a point in every startup journey when hesitancy melts away and there’s no turning back. This might take the form of a …
THE EUREKA MOMENT
When he stepped into his evening bath more than 2,200 years ago, Archimedes had grown tired of searching, racking his mind for a foolproof way to measure the true volume …
DISSATISFACTION
Whether thinking about retirement, a sabbatical, or a dream business, most working adults fantasize from time to time about the day they will be free to pursue some deeper calling. …
EARLY FOUNDATIONS
Your preparation for entrepreneurship begins on the day you are born, if not before. Starting a business is an intensely personal endeavor. You bring to it the total package of …
The Sparks of Entrepreneurial Ambition
Starting a new business uncorks strong emotions that have typically built up over years or decades. Like the winding of an inner coil, an aspiring entrepreneur’s early experiences pack potential …
True Believers Why Founders Fall in Love with Their Ideas
"Following our path is in effect a kind of going off the path, through open country. . . Out there in the silence we must build a hearth, gather the …
What Is in This Book and How to Use It
Part I of this book presents and explores its underlying premise: Entrepreneurial passion is a double-edged sword, bringing value as well as danger. ■ Chapter One explains what happens within …
Who Should Read This Book
This book is for: ■ Aspiring entrepreneurs who are passionate about a business idea and want to dramatically improve their likelihood of success. ■ Existing business owners or founding teams …
Introduction
“If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins." —Benjamin Franklin, American statesman and entrepreneur You have always dreamed of skydiving, imagining yourself in a free fall, high above the …
Acknowledgments
Writing a book is similar to launching a business. Each requires more time and effort than expected, and most of the sacrifice comes from people other than the author (or …
6 SECRETS TO STARTUP SUCCESS
JOHN BRADBERRY Most of us harbor thoughts of starting a business. It is a delicious fantasy while staring at gray cubicle walls, or toiling outside for an hourly wage under …
