If determination is the single most important quality, doesn't it deserve its own book? Determination is so personal and emotional, it'd be hard to find founders willing to confide, but I believe it would fill a huge need for aspiring founders. Maybe some stories would have to be anonymous, but if vetted by an author such as jl, that would be okay I think.
It would also be useful to hear more actual failure stories, not only those from founders who have managed to turn things around, but those who just failed. Even if it scares some away from startups, maybe there are some lessons to be learnt too.
Actually I don't agree that determination is personal. It boils down to love really. It's the passion that keeps every founder going and most of them wear it on their sleeve in addition to completely embodying it. They use it to hire people, to sell their idea, and to keep going. But the key is for passion to ascend into will power. The best common man analogy is when we must go pee. We do whatever it takes to prevent public embarrassment with complete focus, maximum speed, and accute intellect. For a moment we all become geniuses. Entreprenuers use this power to overcome anything. Of course not because they want to but because they are forced to... As if to avoid embarrassment.
And "what's love?" You don't choose who you love or what you're passionate about while determination is deliberate effort. I agree that love helps you do things that are hard but it's so whimsical and out of your control that I think it's not enough. Say you love video games and programming, is that enough to make a successful game? Unless you try tens of games, throw away all but one, debug the hell out the performance and manage to market it in such a crowded market, you'll always fall short I think.
> when we must go pee. We do whatever it takes
Not very convinced by your analogy. Starting a company is a long-term effort. And usually, there aren't many road blocks on your way to the bathroom.
But passion is what makes you determined and not give up. Like chasing someone you have a crush on. And imagine wanting to pee in an unfamiliar town or even a foreign country. We would get creative. Starting a company is long-term repetition of immediately threatening circumstances.
If I ever invested money I'd look at determination as the primary criteria. It's hard to measure though- what questions would be good to figure out how determined someone is?
- How long did it last?
- How successful was it?
- How hard was it really (novelty, competition, complexity, regulations, number of people involved, lines of code if applicable)?
- What were their mistakes? Which were the most painful?
- How did they correct their trajectory?
- What will they change this time?
But you have to calibrate your expectations with the current project, otherwise you'll pretty much filter any first timer.
It would also be useful to hear more actual failure stories, not only those from founders who have managed to turn things around, but those who just failed. Even if it scares some away from startups, maybe there are some lessons to be learnt too.