Last month, thanks to an introduction by (Jason) one of my Co-founder’s at JZS Innovations (our tech incubator) I had a memorable Zoom call with another second time founder Jason recently met. He said I absolutely had to meet this other entrepreneur as we have similar stories. Jason was right! His story is truly remarkable. To be honest it is much more impressive than my own story.
Several years ago after arriving to the US from another country, he hatched an idea for a software product. Strapped for cash, he approached an investor and asked for $75,000 USD to start his company. The investor told him that he would invest, not because he believed in the product, but because he believed in the entrepreneur pitching for the investment money. Fast track a few short years into the future and in 2021, the entrepreneur I was having this Zoom call with sold his company for over $1 billion dollars.
Now the reason I am sharing this background with you is not to impress you. It is simply to set the context for what will come next in this short article. I am not mentioning his name and company as I want to respect his privacy, as he most certainly gets pitched all the time from founders.
During the call we shared our entrepreneurial battle stories of how we each launched and built our companies from idea to exit. We compared notes of the ups and downs we had and all of our highs and lows. During our journey’s we both navigated going from single life, to becoming married to having children and trying to balance and navigate high-growth tech companies with a young and growing family.
At a certain point in the call however I got hit with some wisdom from my new friend that landed right between my eyes. It was so simple and profound that it stopped me cold in my tracks. I told him that right after my exit it was tough trying to recreate the HUNGER that drove me in the last chapter as a second time founder. He told me that the fuel him and I had in those days, where we put everything on the line to make our last businesses work, had nothing to do with HUNGER. However - it had everything to do with DESPERATION. He proceeded to explain that this complete and utter desperate situation that we put ourselves in, with everything riding on the line was the most beautiful and valuable fuel an entrepreneur could have. It’s like finding a genie in a bottle that only grants you one wish. Once you use up that one time fuel source called DESPERATION and attain the success you were looking for (in the case of both of us, building an impactful tech company and having a great founder friendly exit) that fuel, that wish if you will from the genie, is gone for good.
I can say from experience he is 100% correct.
The natural next question is, if desperation as a motivational fuel is gone after the initial success, what does one use next to get that extra edge?
I guess that answer is different for everyone. I’m a basketball fan, and I grew up idolizing the 90’s Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan. They won 6 championships during that time. A true dynasty and one of the greatest sports teams of all time. When I reflected on what must have kept them going after the initial championship I was able to find my current fuel. For me my replacement for desperation is all about team success in the next chapters.
When comparing post exit notes with many founders that achieved a meaningful exit, I saw a trend. In that first big success, there is a lot of trauma and drama that happens amongst the team. Most of it is good, however there is a fair share of in fighting and miscommunication. All of that leaves scar tissue and lessons learned for the next time. The fuel that motivates me for future successes is assembling an amazing team of skilled people that share common human values. Attaining success as a group and having a lot of fun in the process. That could mean another great exit or an amazingly profitable company that keeps growing that we never sell. Once we reach each championship like the Bulls did, we take a moment to celebrate as a team, but then reassemble after, to do it all over again as a team. At JZS Innovations we have such a team that is now working on amazing new products and companies that we are navigating towards their respective championships.
In 2019, one year after my last exit (my last “championship”) I was fortunate to have Tim Grover (Michael Jordan’s athletic trainer during his basketball career) as my mentor. I will always remember a little story he told me about him and Michael. Whenever the Bulls would win a championship, Tim would wait around in the tunnel leading from the court to the locker room. Michael would come out of the locker room and break away from the celebration and spraying champagne to find Tim. They would have a brief moment together in the tunnel and have the same conversation each time.
Michael: Done. Next.
Tim: What time are we training tomorrow morning? 5am? 6am? 7am?
Michael: 5.
Michael celebrated for one night. Then got right back to work the next day pursuing the next championship, driven by slightly different motivational fuel each time.
What’s your current fuel?