Ornithology of the Anti-Entrepreneur
When you start your own business, you must find the best partners to take the plunge. If there is no standard profile for the successful businessman, we can still identify the characteristics of the anti-entrepreneur, the one you shouldn’t work with, ever.
We have interviewed a hundred startup CEOs and experts for you, from several sectors (technology, retail, customer services, web marketing, energy, software, industry, cybersecurity, health, or big data). They all shared their experiences and failures with ill-chosen partners. Thanks to François Bert for his bright insights.
The Peacock
who wants to cash and shine, but who is never here when need be
You want to avoid doing business with the Peacock because you will always feel like the only one in charge when he will be the one to be honored and prized by the rest of society. How come? His agenda is full of events and shiny meetings, and you look too tired to appear sexy on TV. This type of partner is not always the must have you need in your solidarity team. The problem is that he might be smart, friendly, supportive, innovative, or even the one everybody likes the most. And this is a problem because it won’t help you clear your mind when you need to make significant decisions about the development of your business. Most likely, he will abandon you when he realizes that you are not Elon Musk and that he is not Mark Zuckerberg.
How can you spot a Peacock? Focus on the gap between his face-to-face behavior and the social role he plays when confronted to a group. Our advice: work hard in silence and let your success be your noise.
The Penguin
who cannot fly
The Penguin is the risk-averse partner. He won’t be able to make drastic decisions since there are always pros and cons to any choice. Often, you will notice that the Penguin has kept his old employee habits. He doesn’t understand why holidays, paid leaves, weekends, and evenings have deserted your vocabulary. In his ideal world, he would become a millionaire and still leave at 6 pm to go to the gym. The Penguin will never fly. You need to partner with an Eagle, who has vision, resilience, patience, tenacity, leadership, and charisma. But the Penguin will never gallop either. You cannot rely on someone who will give up in front of the slightest problem. A successful entrepreneur is no more genius than the rest of us. What makes him different is that he sticks to it.
How can you spot a Penguin? Ask him what he is willing to sacrifice from his daily comfort to achieve his goals, and for how long. If he tells you that his wife wants to buy a suburban house within eight months, you should forget about him.
The Pink Flamingo
who cannot support the weight of the crown
You can have a great idea. It doesn’t make you a real entrepreneur. Execution does. Leadership gives you legitimacy. It is not the same to manage a department in a large company and lead your team through thick and thin when your cash flow is dry. You will feel abandoned, lonely, and yet you will have to keep smiling and find the energy to move forward and call the shots. Your partner should be ready to share responsibilities. No pain, no gain. You cannot have him on your back in addition to the rest. He will exhaust you.
How can you spot a Flamingo? Ask him how he would proceed in a time of crisis? Would he be ready to confront the whole team, the clients, and the investors? Would he instead talk privately to intermediary managers to delegate the crisis resolution? Would he try to accuse others, or circumstances, to explain a collective failure rather than looking for solutions to fix it?
The Dodo
who never listens to anyone
You’re a genius. Nobody questions this evidence. However, no one knows everything. Entrepreneurship is not just a multitasks job; it is THE multitasks job par excellence. The first entrepreneurs invented multitasking. So, don’t fool yourself. You must learn almost everything, all the time. Some people have been there and have done that before you, and their advice can be of some use. If you are not ready to hear any critic or remark, you will not progress. And that is the worst that could happen to an entrepreneur. Can you imagine a Pokémon who would not have evolved in a world full of evolved Pokémon? There is no happy ending to that story. You probably end up dead. And you don’t want to partner with a dead end.
How can you spot a Dodo? He talks more than he listens. He demonstrates to you how he knows it all rather than exploring solutions anytime you present a problem. No one is unique but him. Expertise has no value for him.
The Owl
who remains in the obscurity of his technology and doesn’t interact with the world
If you are going to lead a disruptive business, you will have to sell more than just a new fashion line or colorful yoga pants. Brainy is the new sexy. We all got it, from Steve Jobs to The Big Bang Theory. However, your techs and your business partners cannot always be the same ones. Let’s forget our old stupid prejudices about greasy hair and broken glasses. The problem is trickier. The first difficulty you will meet if your partner is an Owl is that there is no use to own the most innovative proprietary technology if you cannot explain it to clients or investors. A business is not just another lab.
How can you spot an Owl? The Owl despises anyone who is not a specialist like himself. He will make no effort to speak in ordinary language. He often considers that competitors have nothing to sell but design and marketing (the problem is, when the competitor is Google, this attitude is of very little help to your success).
The Parrot
who tells you what you want to hear, and nothing else
You must beware the people who won’t be able to criticize what you do or give a firm opinion. The Parrot is not just a flattering fox. He also has the multi-colors of the chameleon. He tells everyone what they want to hear, not necessarily because he has an agenda to push for, but because he lacks self-confidence and personality. The problem is that it might take you some time before you realize that your partner acts like a mirror.
How to spot a Parrot? He will never contradict or criticize anything you say. He constantly agrees with you. Don’t be fooled. You cannot always be right. Look for opposition and complementarity. This will be healthier for your decision process.
The Hawk
who cannot be part of a team
You cannot trust the Hawk, and he doesn’t trust you either. His interest always comes first. Because he plays solo, it will be difficult to follow his lead. Imagine a V formation of wild geese trying to keep up with the Hawk’s fall sheer. The whole team will end up crashing to the ground. Because he won’t face reality as it is, he will not pay attention to concrete results, or at least to others’ well being at work.
How to spot the Hawk? His spontaneity can seduce you, but he must be able to spell his working methods out. Ask him how he defines complementarity and team effort. Our advice: if he is so good in your industry, you should associate him with a leading goose to stabilize the team during his wanderings.
The Cuckoo
who pushes the egg out of the nest and makes the egg feel responsible for it
Of all the birds you might meet, the Cuckoo is one of the most dangerous. He is an impostor, but he will try and make you look like the parasite and the deadweight of the group. The Cuckoo is toxic. He will play people off against each other, and always present himself as the savior of the day. His toxicity lies in manipulation. The more he will downgrade you the lowest your self-esteem will be. The Cuckoo a narcissistic perverse. It will cost you your business, your health, your self-confidence.
How to spot a Cuckoo? Of all the anti-entrepreneurs, he is one of the most difficult to identify upstream. That is why he is so dangerous. The secret might be to observe yourself in contact with him. If you feel exhausted, permanently undermined, if you must justify yourself, if you consider he is nice even to tolerate your presence, you may be the victim of a toxic Cuckoo. There is no way to deal with such an associate. Your only option is to cut him off for good.
Few tips to avoid partnering with the anti-entrepreneur in the first place:
1/ If you meet someone who fits one of these profiles, run.
2/ If you meet someone who fits several of these profiles combined, run faster.
3/ Don’t do business with your childhood friends.
4/ Don’t think one can change. In the startup world, you have no time to count on it.
5/ When you are looking for a partner, don’t hesitate to talk about every aspect of life (how does he define money, risk, time, commitment, success, etc.): words and concepts do not always mean the same to everyone.
6/ Observe him in contact with other people, and not just privately.
7/ We could extend the list forever, with the Vulture who wants to take what is left of your business after a major crisis, the Magpie who will robe the company…
