Inside the minds of successful business owners. 'I wake up hungry, and I will not stop.'
"You have to be insane to be an entrepreneur," says one CEO. He and another founder share the mindset that helped them push through uncertainty.
Entrepreneurship involves risk and uncertainty, as one founder explained, "You have to be insane." Two successful founders share the mindsets that helped them persevere when failure seemed possible, offering insights on how anyone can develop resilience and confidence to take entrepreneurial risks.
Traditional jobs provide stability with regular paychecks and benefits, but entrepreneurship does not. While the potential for a significant payoff exists, there are no guarantees. Popsmith CEO Tal Moore described the situation bluntly: "You have to be insane to be an entrepreneur because there's so much risk and turbulence."
Moore and his co-founder nearly ran out of money while building their high-end stovetop popcorn popper. To survive, Moore had to sell $600,000 worth of his personal stock to keep the business afloat. When friends and family had also invested, he felt it was unacceptable to lose their money as well.
Kyle Ray, another entrepreneur, drew his inspiration from a teacher who predicted he would end up working at McDonald's. Rather than being discouraged, Ray used the comment as motivation, never finishing college and turning a window-cleaning side hustle into a six-figure business. He developed a "failure-is-not-an-option" mindset, determined to prove that teacher wrong.
Moore and his business partner had just two weeks of cash left when they needed to save the business. They decided to throw "Hail Marys" to attract attention and move product without spending much money. Moore sent poppers directly to the CEOs of Williams-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel, handwrote notes, and shipped them blind. Within two months, buying teams from both companies reached out, and Oprah picked up on it, leading to the product's inclusion in her annual "Favorite Things" list.
Popsmith sold out every popper within weeks, selling out three more times over the next five months.
For entrepreneurs, there is an endless drive to succeed, as Moore put it, "I wake up hungry, and I will not stop." Developing the entrepreneur mindset can be learned, just like any other skill, through reading, seeking guidance from experienced individuals, and working with coaches.
Written by urgent.news from Business Insider's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
