Successful Entrepreneurship Is Ongoing Self-Improvement

Three variations on the idea that “successful entrepreneurship is an ongoing self-improvement”  project, program, or process.

Entrepreneurship is an Ongoing Self-Improvement Project

Successful entrepreneurship is an ongoing self-improvement project. But entrepreneurs must marshal more than their own resources and abilities to succeed. They need to involve other people with the necessary talents, experience, and knowledge. A successful startup is co-created not just by the founders, but in collaboration with other partners, suppliers, and especially customers.
Sean Murphy in “Some Days You’re The Potter, Some Days You’re The Clay”

Successful entrepreneurship is an ongoing self-improvement project, it’s frequently painful as you force yourself to confront your own shortcomings  and leave your comfort zone to try new things (which often don’t work the first time).
Sean Murphy  “Innovation Needs Starvation, Pressure, and a New Perspective”

Entrepreneurship is an Ongoing Self-Improvement Program

I have blogged about the value of partners and how successful entrepreneurship is an ongoing self-improvement program.
Sean Murphy in  “C. Kent Wright’s “Nectar in a Nutshell” Has Some Great Quotes”

Entrepreneurship is an Ongoing Self-Improvement Process

There are no doubt many things wrong with your startup and if you fix some of them and become more successful you will discover that more things need fixing: successful entrepreneurship is an ongoing self-improvement process. Focus on what your customers and prospects are telling you and don’t waste any more time on on-line Tarot decks, magic 8 balls, crystal balls, phrenologists, or other fortune tellers.
Sean Murphy in “(Ask LSC) Traction, product/market fit, scale, startup genome, startup metrics: going mad.”

I think there are two dynamics at work driving the need for self-improvement. Until your offering gets traction in the market you have to continue to experiment and make improvements in it, and that means you have to get better at understanding the market and developing the skills necessary to thrive. Once you start to be successful you attract competition and you have to continue to improve to stay ahead.

Related Blog Posts

• Q: Should I Be an Entrepreneur?
• Anything You Want By Derek Sivers
• Debugging Your Startup Requires Peace of Mind
• Wynton Marsalis on Humility, Self-Mastery, and Learning
• Some Days You’re The Potter, Some Days You’re The Clay
• Innovation Needs Starvation, Pressure, and a New Perspective

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