The Easiest Thing to Do is Give Up

Entrepreneur - Founder - Co Founder- Startup - Reagan Pollack

The Easiest Thing to Do is Give Up

Over 4 startups I’ve been a co-founder of, there’s been so many moments where I just wanted to throw in the towel, and give up.

From tech glitches that caused months of delays, to running out of cash when you least expect it, to deals that fall through when you’re banking on them closing, I’ve experienced it all.

The world of startups are defined by 99 things that go wrong, but the determined entrepreneur just never allows them to throw her off track of her accomplishing the mission.

You must realize that every person who “makes it” through, literally just never gave up. It’s that simple people. Don’t, f*cking, give up!

If you give up, then what? Well, quitting is easy…keeping at it is hard. So are you going to just tap out when a customer doesn’t want to buy from you? Oh please stop crying.

Are you going to give up when an investor passes for some random reason on your pitch? Big deal, find another lead.

Are you going to give up when there’s a product defect? Go fix it!

To succeed isn’t an event. It’s a daily battle between conquering real problems, and overcoming our inner challenges to find solutions.

Keep going. That’s all there is to it. Keep. Going.

 

Reagan Pollack

1 month ago

Reagan Pollack
In 2005 while attending Babson College business school, I set out to launch my first internet startup. The vision was to build a platform (back then it was called a web portal) that would connect the music industry and expedite artist discovery (A&R), facilitate new business deals, and bridge the fragmented music business ecosystem. The goal was large, but in order to accomplish it, without prior experience nor significant connections, I broke the mission down into manageable tasks and chunks. This not only helped lay the foundation but also helped me to prioritize which elements would be needed first and subsequently.At graduation, I headed back to Silicon Valley and began my adventure full steam by opening an office, raising capital, and hiring my first ten team members. With a business plan in hand, I had a clear roadmap from an operational and financial perspective, and by spending significant time constructing the website wire-frames, it helped me to better stress test my assumptions with real-world pre-customer feedback. While most of the business plan didn’t materialize the way I had envisioned, it did help me greatly to strengthen my resolve for the vision and gain confidence that the end goal was material. I implore founders today to spend a few weeks writing down their vision and breaking into daily tasks, and the rank them in order of importance - ask yourself “if this comes first, does this unlock value next?” “If this comes next, does this expedite the next phase on my list?” The best (fastest to get to market and grow) entrepreneurs think in phases and are incredible at prioritizing tasks to reach the next tranche of milestones. Being in a startup can be dizzying - there a dozens of potential features to build, hundreds of people to pitch, and time is your enemy. Practicing prioritization - the ability to truly rank each activity by its weight (value) to drive actual traction - will ultimately position your business to win cost efficiently and market effectively. #nostartupleftbehind #entrepreneur #startups #entrepreneurship #founderstory ... See MoreSee Less
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