Why you should be an entrepreneur (or anything for that matter)

I am often asked how to know if starting your own business is right or when do you know it is time? My response is, "Even if f I knew that I would never succeed again with any startup, I would still be happy with the process of trying." I have given this much thought. 9 out of 10 of the ideas that I have attempted in my life end in one form of failure or another. At the age of 40 I am acutely aware that success can be extremely elusive. I have recently become aware that I might be over half way through this journey (no medical problems, just watching my parents get older.)

That is the reason that I moved half way across the country to Silicon Valley 2 years ago. I decided that if I wanted to accomplish anything or be involved with a group of people, now was the time to begin acting vigorously in the direction that I wanted to see my life taking.

But I always remind others that the trick is to avoid catastrophic failure. If you go bankrupt trying, it severely limits the number of times you will get to try. I started my first business (a dating site that is now Match.com), while both my partner and I had full time jobs. The first year was literally nights and weekends. Neither of us quit until we had revenue. I have always been a big believer of putting food on the table and keeping a roof over my head.

Yet there is an incredible amount of free time available if you are disciplined about finding and using it. I used to carry around a huge stack of note cards that had all the new technical information that I needed to learn to get better at starting technical ventures. It doesn't have to be technical, it could be anything that would make you better at whatever is important for the next step in your journey. When I had a free moment, I would drill through whatever I had time for.

The important part is to become clear about what you want out of the journey, then do the work necessary to get there. Listen to the feedback life gives you and get better at the parts that are today's stumbling blocks.

One of the reasons that I am starting this blog, is that I have become aware of a hole in my abilities, which is the usage of all the new marketing media that have become prevalent since selling my last Internet business in 2000. I am on a crash course to learn how to connect and contribute in a way that matters and people find useful.