Fly Without Wings

Not sure of the source - but this one just bubbled up from the memory bank:

“Courage does not mean absence of fear. Courage means moving ahead in spite of fear”.

Interestingly, the attribute “courage”  is also common between an “ace” gambler and an entrepreneur.

Just like an entrepreneur, a good gambler is keenly aware of the opportunity (big stakes), has the skill, passion and courage to make each of her moves count, a sharp demeanour/ presence that can inspire awe & confidence on the table, an astute understanding of the risks at hand, and lastly -  she always plays to win.

But for one key difference:

An entrepreneur - instead of playing to always win - always plays win-win.

Entrepreneurship is inclusive. Entrepreneurs take the risk to seize new opportunities, develop/ find required skills, build an entire ecosystem from ground up, execute relentlessly, create new markets, and by virtue of which, share the wealth across the whole value chain (inside and outside of the business).

But what about many of us (entrepreneurs) who like to keep all the aces close to the chest while playing the game?

Well, gamblers do win at high stakes games all the time. But that just might not be entrepreneurship.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 10:01 am and is filed under Start-ups. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.