Strong Opinions @marksbirch

bijan:

One of the hardest things about life in startups, whether you are an employee, founder or investor) is patience…It’s easy to get caught up in all of the new startups that are created and funded each week. There is always a shiny new thing, scary new competitor or a shiny new person to hire. Or it may seem like every other company is growing much faster than your company. 

Patience is the most challenging & valuable skill in this business. I’m sure of it.

Call it the “TechCrunch Effect”.  Startups read the press and get depressed that they are falling behind.  It gets exasperated when things stall, slow down, go completely wrong.  Then you read (or your investors) read something and the questions start, tempers flair, and ugliness ensures.  Then the critics smell blood and pounce.

Do not let these things distract you!  Bijan is right, patience is an under-appreciated skill.  Startups take time and go through numerous up and down cycles before realizing their full potential.  Everyone on the outside (and the insiders) press to get things moving faster because they equate action and decisions and busywork as progress.  They are not, and in fact, you need those lulls.

Sometimes the silences are the most important part, as any experienced musician will tell you.  They learn to use the spaces between the notes for greater effect, whereas the novice wants to fill up the space with sound.  That is where experience plays a part and differentiates those that are great from the merely competent.

Patience is the skill that makes you great.  Patience allows you to keep on track towards the greater goal rather than follows the whims of short term gratification.  Use patience to your advantage to assess the situation and develop a strategic perspective of your goals, competition, markets, customers, and trends.