Recently, I was contacted by a major TV show, looking to do a segment on what it looks like to be an entrepreneur building a startup from scratch. I am talking major TV show, with an audience in the millions, not some local news channel.
So I e-mailed a few entrepreneurs I know to see who was interested and doing something remotely interesting for a camera: maybe a VC meeting, or attend some networking event.
Believe it or not, but they all turned me down. They were too busy that week. Or at home coding stuff, no meetings scheduled that the TV crew could film.
All turned me down except one. She e-mailed me back right away with a detailed schedule of stuff that could be featured on the show. And she was willing to adapt her schedule.
I was not surprised. I had noticed before how she was the most pro-active of that group of entrepreneurs. A simple tell-tale sign: she was the first to friend me on LinkedIn, when everyone else didn’t dare yet. Think of it: what is the risk of friending someone? Online rejection doesn’t bite.
So she was the one.
What I learned from this: next time you watch TV or hear about a successful entrepreneur and think that it could have been you, ask yourself if you are really pro-active about seizing each and every opportunity. I believe that’s the difference between successful entrepreneurs and dreamers.
