When an entrepreneur is in love with their idea, the obsession prevents a great idea from becoming a great company. Do not Fall In Love With Your Business.
People can do foolish things in the name of love and entrepreneurs are not immune to making this mistake. The object of affection doesn’t have to be a spouse; it can be that other loved one in our lives known as the “business idea.” Loving a business to death is more common than most people believe.
I recently discovered a book published in 2002 called A Good Hard Kick In the A**: Basic Training For Entrepreneurs written by Rob Adams. At the time he wrote the book, Adams was the founder and managing director of AV Labs, an early-stage venture fund/accelerator. Prior to that, he served at various executive-level positions at several leading technology companies. He is currently on the MBA faculty of the University of Texas in Austin and is involved with many companies in different capacities.
I came across a copy of this book earlier this year while completing a Fellowship at the Kauffman Foundation’s Education Ventures Program in Kansas City. I strongly recommend that anyone thinking of starting a business or that has recently started a business make the effort and find a copy to read.
Adams doesn’t beat around the bush; he gets straight to the point when discussing all of the mistakes that entrepreneurs make which can ultimately kill what otherwise may have been a successful company. One point which struck me as particularly insightful involves the love affair that many entrepreneurs have with their ideas.
Adams bluntly states that he won’t invest in an idea or company where the entrepreneur is in love with their idea. Upon reading this I was a little surprised; my initial reaction was that you want someone who lives and breathes their idea 24/7 and wants nothing more than their business to succeed. But then I realized that love is something else.
When an entrepreneur is in love with their idea, several dangerous things happen. First, they focus on the idea itself. This means that many times they aren’t thinking about other areas of the business which are critical for success such as recruiting, operations, cash flow management and risk mitigation strategies. The idea becomes all-encompassing and consumes them like an addict who can’t think of anything other than the next fix. This prevents a great idea from becoming a great company.
