In this startup phase, I’ve been writing a lot fewer posts and articles than I ever have before, because it’s hard to start talking about my product without pitching — and it’s hard to pitch my product without it being ready for show and tell. We’re getting so much closer to a live launch.
In the meantime, I have been reading far more books on business, business in tech, and entrepreneurship.
The book I’m reading at the moment, The Intelligent Entrepreneur, by Bill Murphy Jr., has been a fantastic read so far. I read the comments on Amazon before I borrowed it from the library, and many of the comments hinged on the fact that it over glorifies the Harvard Business School (true fact) and that it makes venture capital seem much easier than it is today (true fact). However, the book is a great story, following three entrepreneurs from the same class at HBS. It shows the good and the bad, everything about their lives as they struck out on their own to form businesses.
My takeaways aren’t the “10 rules of successful entrepreneurship” that the cover dictates — but the more minor things. An offhanded comment that one of the entrepreneurs occasionally stayed up all night playing Civilization while he’s in the world of new startup entrepreneurship. And it gave me so much more hope. Because if I have to follow all the suggestions everyone says — throwing everything into my business around the clock, living, sleeping, dreaming the business, then the business isn’t worth it to me.
Do I love my business idea? Yes. Am I excited beyond belief to have it come to fruition, just for my own use? Yes. Will I probably work on it well over a 40 hour week until I can afford to hire employees to get a more manageable schedule? Yes.
Will I take afternoons to go to swim lessons with my son? Will I take a child-free evening to simply enjoy and play games with my husband? You bet. I’ll be one more entrepreneur, trying to make my mark on the world… but if I’m up at midnight, I’m probably playing just one more turn…