The “fearless entrepreneur” is a myth: why you don’t have to take risks to build a successful business
When I was a kid, I worked in my cousin’s gift store.
I was so bored during those long, hot summers that I didn’t even ask him to pay me.
But one day I had a brilliant idea. I would go into the hills, pick figs from local gardens, and sell them to tourists.
I shared this plan with my cousin.
“That’s a terrible idea,” he said, shaking his head. “Everyone will ask where you got them from. You’ll just be a thief.”
It was my first business idea — and it failed before it even started.
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Many people believe that successful entrepreneurs are born to take risks.
Either you were an eight-year-old with a lemonade stand or you don’t have the right stuff.
As the late Victor Kiam — the former president of Remington and owner of the New England Patriots — once said:
“Entrepreneurs are risk-takers, willing to roll the dice with their money or reputation on the line in support of an idea or enterprise.”
