Aug 24, 2017
Nickelback — Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Yeah — I went there…
Never made it as a wise man
I couldn’t cut it as
A poor man stealing
Tired of living like a blind man
I’m sick of sight without
A sense of feeling
I really am an entrepreneur. Listening to Nickelback, which I will admit to doing more often than many, reminds me a lot of being one. There are plenty of days where I question the wisdom of that decision. The bank account isn’t getting any larger… yet. I have a foreboding sense of blindness when it comes to the probability of closing my next contract, and some days I just feel numb.
It’s not like you to say sorry
I was waiting on a different story
This time I’m mistaken
For handing you
A heart worth breaking
And I’ve been wrong
I’ve been down
Into the bottom of every bottle
Look, I haven’t taken to drinking and I am certainly not broken-hearted, but entrepreneurs exist almost purely on passion for a very long time. This game is not easy. There are no apologies. The story changes constantly and mistakes are a daily occurrence.
These five words in my head
Scream
Are we having fun yet?
I am. And that to me is the key — it is also what I really am. And sometimes a little Nickelback is exactly what I need to remind me. You can hate all you want on the most popular band and song of the first decade of the millennium, but most entrepreneurs would kill for the success and the opportunity. Of course:
It’s not like you didn’t know that
People hate the band because of its success and because their best songs and their worst songs were all over-played. Not that you can tell most of them apart. Of course, somewhere in there is a lesson in consistency. Perhaps not a great one…
I said I love you and
I swear I still do
And it must have been so bad
Cause living with him must have
Damn near killed you
Entrepreneurship is a love affair. It really isn’t that much of a stretch. For me personally, I can relate to the tail end of this stanza as well. My last job was a slow and grinding death, it damn near killed me. But many entrepreneurs start straight out of school, for them this verse likely misses. From here the band repeats — another lesson perhaps. But repetition is a sore point with Nickelback.
In the end, you may hate them — but quite a lot of folks love them. In that way they are a lot like Microsoft, Apple, or even Facebook. But let’s not open that can of worms again…
Take a few lessons from Nickelback.
- don’t take yourself too seriously
- work hard
- and always ask “Are we having fun, yet?” If not, it may be time to find a new vocation.
Claps are about as popular as Nickelback… actually from what I’ve been reading, far less so. But even they have a silver-lining, so please give us a few.
