preface
Like seams of gold in a goldrush-era mine, many countries now have strong seams of innovation running through them. Sure, one of the motivations for an innovative tech founder is to strike gold with a profitable exit so all the founders and investors get rich beyond their wildest dreams. But most founders I know don’t start with the certainty that they can build the next unicorn company—it’s not the best premise for a startup. Instead, they start with an idea they believe will change the world, and they want to take that idea and turn it into a new company. Then they want to bring to market a product that implements their world-changing idea. You change a big enough market in a meaningful way, and your wildest dreams will not be nearly wild enough. But, of course, it is not nearly as easy as that sounds.
You may have heard that roughly 8 out of 10 startups fail. If that statement dissuades you, maybe you are not ready for the startup adventure. If instead that statement elicits from you a “Well, mine won’t be one of those eight!” response, you have the right attitude. It would be hard to find a human endeavor that is more fraught with mistakes, risk, and outright failure than the entrepreneurial game of startups. It would also be hard to find a human endeavor where the payoff—intellectual, emotional, and financial—is more rewarding.