He was so afraid of dying (making a mistake) that he forgot how to live (missed great opportunities)

One will never reach distant shores, if he chooses to remain upon the dock. In fear his little ship of dreams may be dashed against the rocks.  -- F. Bolen.

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it.  -- Thucydides.

 

Storyline:

Two people look at the same new idea: one looks at the current data (today’s realities) and says, “This is very difficult, almost impossible. What if we go for it and fail? What will happen to us?”  The other looks at tomorrow’s possibilities and says, “What if we go for it and succeed? What would that data look like?”

It is the same idea, but one looks at possibilities and the other at dangers, one creates the future while the other is imprisoned by the present. And there lies the difference between successful entrepreneurs and institutions versus the others:

The unsuccessful ones are afraid to fail. When an opportunity is presented to them on a silver platter, they hide behind a wall of caution. Under the disguise of “cover all the bases” and “due diligence”, they create an infrastructure of over-diligence. 

Many good things in life do not wait for people who are busy analyzing all the dangers - not while someone down the street is dreaming of all the possibilities and ready to grab them.

 

Here are two stories of successful entrepreneurs ... the ones who know “how to live”:

1. The beginning of Excite (Source: Joe Krauss, founder of Excite and Jotspot)

“While we were still in the garage (literally), we met with at least 15 different venture capital firms. The meetings we're all the same. We showed them our search technology, showed them 'concept-based' search, and showed them targeted advertising. To a firm, the first question they asked was a very reasonable one: 'Great stuff guys, but what's your business plan? How are you going to make money?' Of course, being 22 years old and fresh out of college, we replied: 'We thought you could help us out with that.'

(Apparently, that's the wrong answer. Who knew?)

Then we met Vinod (Khosla)... By then, our deal had developed a certain "smell" - smart guys with interesting technology, but an uncertain business plan. The demo to Vinod started off like they all did, but about 10 minutes into the meeting things got very different. He interrupted "Can the technology scale? Can you search a large database?"

Big Pause. It's not the money question. No one has ever asked us this before. Ummm. "We don't know. We can't afford a hard drive big enough to test." Ten minutes into this meeting, his first introduction to us, he pulls out his cell phone, dials his assistant and buys us a $10,000, 10Gb hard drive. After that, Vinod, along with the venture capitalist who introduced us to him, Geoff Yang, invested in the company's first round of financing.” Then Excite became a very successful company.

 

2. CP/M Versus MS-DOS

When IBM decided to get into the PC business, they approached Microsoft and Inter Digital Research for the operating system. Microsoft had only application software, not an operating system; while IDR had the leading OS of the time called CP/M. However, the IDR people tied up IBM in legal details and non-disclosure agreements, while Gates signed the NDA on the spot, and then found someone to develop OS for Microsoft. The rest is history.

 

Reflection: "When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back.” - Paulo Coelho

Comments

[Chico]

This message applies to finding a life partner, too. If you spot a good person but spend a lot of time thinking and analyzing and not deciding, you end up losing. Too much Risk Assessment upfront can leave one with life time of regret. Talking from experience.

[Retired Rouser]

Compelling storyline but less profound example (1). Where is Excite today or, for that matter, yesterday? Their buildings are being taken over by Stanford Clinic, a risk averting institution. Perhaps, they should have a biz plan like MS in the 2nd example.

[Anonymous]

I guess this story (example 1) makes much more sense when you look at the story about Vinod "the man with the golden touch" Khosla. Mr. Khosla become the most famous VC because of his risk taking on promising people and ventures.

I'm lucky enough to be familiar with the background (Vinod and Krauss made many other successful ventures) but I suppose this example will be curious to many people who can only vaguely remember what Excite is...

[NJ]

This story helps me to make a big decision today. I am going for it.

[MH (Malaysia)]

Thank you for this story. Just the kick one needs!

[Humble Warrior]

Fantastic intellect Vinod had... acted quickly and new scale upside... well worth the risk...

[Maryland]

“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”
From Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

[Chiaoju]

This reminds me a lot of the current situation I'm in. Having been in a situation where I'm supposedly a business owner, I still fall into the trap of overanalyzing. Perhaps they are old habits; trained over the years to analyze everything when working for MNCs.

But I'm lucky to have my life partner who is the opposite. Someone who is capable of seeing the opportunities that unfolds with every situation, good and bad. I'm still learning everyday, still trying to fine tune my brain to see how to make each situation an opportunity.

You win some you lose some. And even if one loses, one can always make a comeback. Afterall, everything will be ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end... Right?

[From Palo Alto Reader.]

great lesson for academicians who only fill up pages with questions without any answers.
Generally I read Friday reflections during by log plane journey. It is like a story where you need not wait for next episode.
Keep it up.

[Grass is Greener]

Thank you for the FR. For someone like myself who constantly looking on the other side for a greener pasture, very worth to reflect. I just read a book Range. You should check it out.