Learn the Ropes

Ethel Katrina
Jul 25, 2017 · 2 min read

There are more than a few of you - young, smart, entrepreneurial types who have this line, “I want to start my own thing, I just don’t know what that is yet.”

While waiting, you may do any of the following:

  1. Join a good-paying multinational firm, to save up for “capital”.
  2. Go on a startup binge, serial entrepreneur style.

I’ve done both. And they have in no significant way prepared me for the fabled #startuplife.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had wonderful experiences in the MNC, thanks more to the team that I was part of rather than to the spokes and gears that run such an operation. Also, my previous baby business endeavors are priceless in conditioning my brain to go and just do it. They, however, did not teach me how to handle risk, which more than anything else sets startups apart. Its high level of risk, which arguably is what drives the passion and the pace of the better startups around, cannot be replicated anywhere else. And this is how I have come to this conclusion:

If you want to build your own startup, and you’re quite unsure how or what, JOIN ONE.

The startup life is by no means for everybody, but if you say you want to build your own enterprise, then it SHOULD be for you. Not everyone who says they like the startup life knows exactly what they’re talking about. And you can only know for sure what it is made of if you get inside its belly, and see all the fuss, fun and frantic-ness that abounds.

The best learning is by doing. You have to try it, you have to risk it. And you have to start now. #

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Ethel Katrina

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