Successful Startup (Part 1)

In recent days and weeks I have had a number of discussions on startups, entrepreneurship, seed funding and everything related to creating a successful company. The discussions have helped me sharpen my own, partly rough thoughts on the subject and I have decided to share them here for others to benefit. Or at least to give some food for thoughts.

I feel I do have some credibility talking about successful startups, as there are two already behind me (one - CDN - started from scratch in 1991 and the other - Wind Mobile - started from ashes in 2006). Both are now grown up and doing very well on their own, which gives me this great feeling of satisfaction of "job well done" and "mission completed". Today I am deeply involved as a founder and CEO of the third one - HomerSoft, which is shaping up to be an order of magnitude bigger (of course time will tell...).

A few weeks ago when we were filming the teaser for the Upriser initiative, I was asked about three things I would suggest to those who were about to create their own startup. The question was a little unexpected and my answer was a little rough, but after rethinking it, there are three personal traits you need inside you to make it happen: passion, courage and perseverance. Creating a startup means leaving your comfort zone. This is by the way where life begins. Outside your comfort zone. And first things first you have to feel the urge to leave this comfort zone. Passion, courage and perseverance will help you out there.

Passion is a must. You are about to start a very long journey. And there will be times your passion will be your only fuel. All the time you will be working 24/7 on your project (your "baby"), and 24/7 for unlimited time is only possible when what you do is your passion. If it is only your work or your temporary way to reach the "rich", you will fail. A startup requires your full 24/7 engagement. You cannot do it part time. You cannot leave the "work" and come "home" not thinking about the "work" (if you want such regime, find yourself a well paid corporate job). And the only way to be able to function this way is when your startup is your passion.

Courage is the second. Starting up your own company is a huge risk. Financial - you start spending time and money on something that is very likely to fail. Creating a startup is like turning from a wide and easy road straight into the jungle. You have to use your own machete to cut your way through. Yes, it is even not a "path less traveled" as many describe. There is no path. It is a jungle full of tigers, snakes and tarantulas and you have to cut your way through, not being stung or eaten. But in the beginning there were no roads. And the ones we have are only because there were courageous entrepreneurs before us, who cut the jungle, constructed the pavement and set up rest areas and warning signs for the rest of us. So if you enjoy and fulfill yourself from cutting your way through a jungle, take this step. Yes it is a risky step. You have to have the guts. But hey, I guarantee, the satisfaction, when you succeed, is fantastic.

Perseverance is the third. You have to keep cutting through the jungle no matter what.  Your enthusiasm will vanish. Friends will desert you. The voices around will be telling you it does not make sense. The cut jungle behind you will be growing back. The nights will be cold. The days will be rainy. There will be no food, no light, no shelter. And no way back. And you have to keep cutting the jungle no matter what. Go to sleep, wake up and start cutting. And fall asleep to regain just a little strength to wake up and continue cutting. It will not always be like that, but there will be times when you either have enough perseverance to continue or you will die (not literally, just your startup will fail). So you have to make it through.

During the following weeks I will tell you more about other dimensions: the team and the business models. And probably more. I think this series may be an interesting break from the tech/gadget oriented blog posts for a while.