Whether it’s via buzzfeed, techcrunch, mashable, hacker news, or any other startup news source, big names in the tech industry seem very willing and able to recount their past stories of failure and glory to masses of people hoping to find the secret piece of advice that will earn them the golden ticket to a billion dollar IPO.  And while each of these authors brings something new and interesting to the table in terms of content, they all have one thing in common.  At some point these guys all hit it big.  Usually they hit Point B at least once before hitting Point C on the above graph, but a pre-requisite for building a popular blog and having 60,000+ followers on twitter tends to be some success in your field.

The Guys You Never Hear From Until It’s Too Late (Because now they’re Rich)

Wouldn’t it be nice to hear from some of these guys before they hit it big?  To see them reflect on their lives and situations as things unfolded as opposed to simply in retrospect?  I wouldn’t even know where to look to find such reflections; startup history is written by those that survived in some way, shape, or form.  Read Steve Blank’s fantastic blog on entrepreneurship and you’ll learn great tips from a guy that has made it.  Or even take Mark Suster’s recent blog called Entrepreneurshit, What It’s Really Like. Let me confirm that Suster’s comments about the unappetizing pieces of the entrepreneurial experience are pretty much bang-on.   But again, these comments come from a guy that eventually realized the light at the other end of the tunnel.  You listen to his story with an odd sort of sympathy, believing things were tough, but realizing that he’s now rich and famous.  So everything worked out in the end.  What about all those guys that have yet to see the light? Those that are sitting at Point A, of whom a suggested 90% majority of are headed towards Point B (failure)?

Ok, so let’s talk to the guys at Point A that are headed to Point C.

What I think is interesting is that it’s virtually impossible to determine who at Point A is headed to success and who is headed for failure.  If it was easy VC’s would all be making billions. They aren’t – many say the VC model is completely broken.

I’m forced to pitch my idea to all sorts of people all the time.  I pitch not because Shnarped needs money (for the moment), but simply because everyone and their dog wants to evaluate you and your concept as soon as you say you’ve started off on your own.  In doing so, I’m constantly bombarded with floods of reasons why it won’t work.   I know all the reasons it won’t work.  They scare me to death.  But I’m not delusional.  I’ve decided that the reasons it will work are stronger than the reasons it won’t. And I’ve convinced some teammates, investors, and an initial user-base that this might be the case.

 So what is my point? 

If you want to hear what entrepreneurship is really like from someone in the flesh, you need to talk to people at Point A.  While it’s true that 90% of the people you talk to at Point A will have ideas that will fail, one needs to realize that 10% will succeed.  And if it’s virtually impossible for even seasoned venture capitalists to tell the difference between those about to fail and those about to succeed, then your chances are even less.  So instead of bombarding new entrepreneurs with lists of problems and reasons why they are destined for Point B (failure), instead try framing the discussion in such a way that assumes everyone has some chance of being on their way to Point C (huge success).  Provide them with solutions and alternatives to problems.  Help them identify resources to avoid problems all together.  Be a motivator.  This is how you help entrepreneurs and learn to be one yourself; by solving problems instead of identifying roadblocks.

I myself am an entrepreneur at Point A, and I’ll be sharing some more of my observations about what it’s like to be here within this blog series.