The Truth About Success

There is a myth we founders like to tell ourselves. It’s the myth that whatever we’ve accomplished is due to our own smarts, talent and grit. If we reach the top we like to think it’s because we outsmarted everyone or we had a better strategy than everyone else or we simply kept going when everyone else gave up and quit. And that is why we are successful.

The thing is, none of this is really true.

I’m not saying these things don’t contribute to success. They do contribute. but not nearly as much as we’d like to think.

If we are being 100% honest with ourselves, the factors that actually determine success are largely out of our control.

Grit Is Not The Answer

A little while back I was on a panel at USC speaking to a group of early stage entrepreneurs. At the close of the panel, the moderator asked us:

“In your own words, what makes an entrepreneur successful”

I thought about this for a second. I could have gone with “grit” the answer that seems to be most en vogue these days in tech and VC circles. But I didn’t feel like perpetuating this half-truth was going to serve the audience any good. So I just told them the full truth.

“Everyone likes to talk about grit. But it’s B.S. Sure, grit helps, but more often than not the three things that make an entrepreneur successful are privilege, luck, and good timing. That’s the reality.”

The moment those words left my lips, the air immediately got sucked out of the room. Even the moderator looked a bit shellshocked.

I thought to myself, “Way to go, crusher of dreams! You just Debbie Downered the fuck out of this conference. Couldn’t you have just said ‘grit’ given them some hope and left it at that?”

I felt a little bad for offering up such a cynical answer. But a split second later the moderator saved me:

“That is the single best answer I’ve ever heard to this question.”

He asked me elaborate. And so I did.

I’ll try to paraphrase below:

Life is NOT a meritocracy

The sooner we understand this the better off we are.

There are two tracks in life. You’re either on the inside enjoying the party or you are on the outside looking in.

When you are on the inside, you have a network of people who support you and consistently throw opportunities your way. It almost feels as if the entire world is conspiring to help you succeed.

If you are on the outside, nothing comes easy. It’s you against the world, a constant struggle where you have to work 10 times harder and dodge 10 times more obstacles just to reach the same result as someone on the inside track.

The outside track sucks.

I don’t say this to depress you. I’m not trying to bum you out. I’m saying this because this is how the world actually works. These are the rules of the game. And unless you understand the reality that some people are playing by a different set of rules, then you are never going to win.

Change Your Order Of Operations

If you want to succeed as an entrepreneur, your only objective should be figuring out how to get yourself onto that inside track.

Most startup literature will tell you that to get from zero to one you need to focus all your energy on validating your customer and your problem and then building an MVP to test your riskiest assumptions.

This stuff is all great. But shouting into a vacuum isn’t going to get you anywhere.

Stop spending 50 hours a week building an MVP that no one will pay attention to.

Instead trying changing your order of operations.

Start spending 50 hours a week building a network of people who will support you.

Figure out how to get on that inside track.

Then build your MVP and share it with people who want to see you succeed.

Once you’re on the inside, these people will actually hear you when you speak. That’s what matters the most. That’s the missing piece that helps turn ideas into reality.

Startups are hard. Being on the inside track doesn’t guarantee success but it starts to swing the odds in your favor, and that is the best anyone can hope for.