Entrepreneurs Are Made Not Born by Lloyd Shefsky

Written by my Entrepreneurship professor at Kellogg.

• luck is opportunity meets preparation
• learn how to overcome rejection

• believe in your dream
• take the angel money
• do what you know and love
• believe in yourself
• project conservatively

• keep your business plan informal at first
• be ready to pivot or even change ideas
• when talking to investors only talk about one business idea

• don’t let your fears hold you back

• entrepreneurship means independence
• don’t waste money on real estate if not necessary for your business
• immigrants have an advantage
• there is life after bankruptcy

• to conquer a fear, first understand it
• good enough never is
• failing doesn’t make you a failure
• in the long run failing may be better for you
• an entrepreneur’s secret weapon is his spirit
• projects fail, entrepreneurs do not
• if you dwell on failure, you will fail

• beware the comfortable and secure life
• something the security of a corporate track may feel like a prison

• entrepreneurship is not gambling
• risk is unavoidable
• managers avoid or reduce risk
• entrepreneurs focus on the reward
• investors want to know that you’re risking something too
• venture capitalists want you to succeed

• to entrepreneurs, work = life
• work ethic is found very early in life
• he who makes money pleases god
• puritans work to work, entrepreneurs work to achieve a goal
• entrepreneurial work is fun
• do you work b/c you love it or to achieve your dreams
• Bill Gates still works 80 hrs/week

• entrepreneurs are sometimes unemployable
• be different
• some rules are sacred and some can be bent

• rules that can be broken: it can’t be done, that’s the only way to do it, they are the only ones who can do it, anyone can do it

• you don’t really fail until you give up
• you make mistakes not really fail

• practice endlessly before the opportunity arrives
• pick a partner for the bad times not the good
• useful advisors: CPA, insurance, lawyer

• work hard
• take care of your body
• don’t forget your family

• someone has to be the leader
• leaders craft and communicate a vision and strategy
• leaders inspire others to follow them
• deep down, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, let them be one through you
• be the team’s biggest cheerleader
• demonstrate publicly your willingness to sacrifice

• you can do it

• for entrepreneurs, money is the vehicle not the destination

• keep trying