Overcome The Founder's Loneliness
I receive it a lot from founders and entrepreneurs: “No one wants to help me”.
Yes, no one really wants to help you because you have not succeeded! As an African proverb says “Victory has relations, vanquish is an orphan”; in the startup world, you would be lonely until you begin to be a star. Then, they would start overbooking the guy no one picked his calls before.
My message to you is this: it is part of the game of life. It is not about you. Relax and accept it, then keep working.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 14 (June 3 – Sept 2, 2024) begins registrations; get massive discounts with early registration here.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
Cellulant, an African payment company, noted that it made “400 presentations and over 60 investors” before it could raise the $47.5 million it recently closed. Note, “presentations”, not “submissions”; they might have sent at least 4,000 business plans to hit the 400 presentations.
Being an entrepreneur is not a vacation job; it is high intensity! You must work to overcome Founder's Loneliness.
It's not the despair that kills, but rather the hope. To begin with, no one owes you anything, that's the first step towards discarding entitlement mentality. Yes, people do not want to help you, because they do not have any reason to do so, neither are they under any obligation to do such.
Again, people give money to those who already have money, the reason? Because they have demonstrated that they can be trusted in the things of money, so there's less worry about money being used to solve family problems. Largely, banks give loans to those who do not need them, it's all about dealing with the people you know, and can trust; every young founder or entrepreneur must come to terms with these realities.
The road is not meant to be smooth and easy, else it becomes a child's play, and you would be crowded out. In this land, people set up business for two years, with no single revenue yet, that doesn't mean the revenue won't come; some things take time. Do not allow your Patience Bank to go bankrupt, else you have failed the first test as an entrepreneur.
In addition, you also need to start, then invite people to assist you grow. But carrying 'ideas' about, looking for funds isn't appetizing enough; the world isn't short of ideas, men and women will congregate when they see that you are growing.
