When Paul Graham writes, I read. When he published How to Be an Angel Investor, I bookmarked. I also took note of the following paragraph on how to be a good founder:
What makes a good founder? If there were a word that meant the opposite of hapless, that would be the one. Bad founders seem hapless. They may be smart, or not, but somehow events overwhelm them and they get discouraged and give up. Good founders make things happen the way they want. Which is not to say they force things to happen in a predefined way. Good founders have a healthy respect for reality. But they are relentlessly resourceful. That’s the closest I can get to the opposite of hapless. You want to fund people who are relentlessly resourceful.
Relentlessly resourceful. That is a great description.
If you are a company founder, are you relentlessly resourceful? Even in a sour economy? Even with few resources? Even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds? If so, then you are a good founder.
Totally agree. Entrepeneurs must be able to conjure up whole companies from thin air. That is the mark of a good entrepreneur.
I tried the entrepreneur route. I believe myself to be of above-average intelligence. However, I was not able to raise the funding I needed to properly launch my business. I guess that means I am not relentlessly resourceful as I do not know how to raise that funding. I am now working as an employee in a large corporation again and am happy to be stable and perhaps wiser too. I guess I am not cut out to be an entrepreneur.
@opensourcer, I’m sorry things didn’t work out with your venture. If you are happier now, then I think it was all for the better. Being an entrepreneur isn’t necessarily better than being an employee. Everyone has a different needs, some of which are better satisfied by being an employee. At least you found your place. Good luck!
Looks like Paul Graham followed up on his article with one specifically on being “relentlessly resourceful”
http://www.paulgraham.com/relres.html
Nice!