![]() The tell-all tale about his stab at the startup world, including a $10 million acquisition by Twitter and high drama inside the walls of Facebook, was conceived and written to be meaner than most books by techies. ![]() Without a doubt.Antonio García-Martinez knows that his new book about Silicon Valley, "Chaos Monkeys," is making some people mad. But is it an absolutely essential ingredient to your success. ![]() So is delusional optimism the missing link in business in terms of whether or not you’ll succeed? Perhaps not. I’ve seen lots of mediocre business ideas get off the ground because of delusional optimism and I’ve seen some great businesses and business ideas fail because of the lack of it. If you’re convinced that your product or service is the best there is, that you’re solving problem that no one else is or in a way that no one else can, or that you can provide extra value that is currently missing – and desired – then that, combined with your delusional optimism, is truly infectious.ĭelusional optimism is a must have ingredient for you to succeed. It’s the same ability that you need to also infect customers with – either in your sales process or in the marketing you do. Having said that, the ability for the Founders to infect investors with the same delusional optimism they have is an essential part of raising money. In the tech start-up world, of which I’m now a part, there’s a very healthy dose of delusional optimism as, as I comb through my google alerts daily to see who’s doing what and raising what money, I can’t help but think, in some cases, it’s not just the entrepreneurs who are delusional! Some of the raises I see, for businesses that I just can’t fathom, seem insane. However there are also other vital things that need to be in there too – a great product/market fit, a solid go-to-market and sales plan, the ability to market well, the ability to actually sell and the ability to manage both money and people. Having said that, it doesn’t mean that delusional optimism is the key to success – and I’ve certainly seen people who are totally deluded about their right, or ability, to succeed – but it needs to be in there. (Don’t get me started on the logic – or lack thereof – of that!) The ones that weren’t so successful or really struggled were the ones who had either bought themselves a job, inherited a family business or started one because they saw their boss taking $100 an hour and only paying them $40. A true glass-is-half-full way of looking at what they are doing and a solid belief that they were on to the next great thing. I knew that there was a difference in their “make up” but it wasn’t until I read this article that I could put a name to it.The ones that were successful were the ones who truly believed in what they were doing – and had an unwavering belief in their ultimate success. Having started 10 businesses over my career life, I recognise this as not only the hallmark of a true entrepreneur but also essential to success.Back in my consulting days, I used to work with a myriad of different business owners – some were successful, some not so much. Just recently I read an article about the Founder of Zappos talking about delusional optimism.
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