When I first started out trying to make companies/products in college, I held to the advice that it’s best to attract a cofounder and build the startup together.
Having recently been doing a lot of solo projects, I’ve realized that one of the biggest limiters to success for an entrepreneur is what he or she can actually execute on.
Of course, there is always the argument that “if the idea is good enough, then I will be able to attract capital, which I can use to hire people that can execute on it.”
The catch 22 is, you need to build a prototype to get any kind of interest from investors, especially if you are younger and don’t have experience under your belt. Therefore, I think that long-term, the absolute #1 way to increase your chances of being successful is to improve your own skill-set and to form relationships with other entrepreneurs who are determined to do the same.
I think that setting out to learn one new skill a year is very doable and, over time, will expand the types of business ideas you can execute on. It will also decrease the risk of doing a startup, as with better skills, you are more employable and should the venture fail, you won’t be left out on the street. You will be able to hustle your way into a job.
My Story
Below, I’ve put together how the different skill sets I’ve managed to pick up have impacted my journey.
Writing
I started getting into writing when I was pretty young. I always wanted to be an author and also loved reading. I would write short-stories, poems, and even a full length novel.
In high school, I took classes in creative writing during the summer. I never thought of it as work, because I loved it. Ultimately, I haven’t produced any remarkable works – but my parents were supportive and I enjoyed it.
Now, most of my small success is due to my writing abilities (blogging). Somehow, I never saw that coming, but it certainly has turned into a valuable skill set.
Lesson: It’s so much easier to learn a new skill when you are passionate about the topic. You don’t even think of it as work.
Programming
I always thought the idea of making software was kind of interesting. I remember taking a game development course when I was a lot younger where we used multimedia fusion to make games. It was so cool! I really wanted to take programming classes in high school, but since math was always my weak subject, my parents would only let me if I agreed to take programming classes in the summer of 7th and 8th grade.
I had no idea what to take. I read a HTML book before the classes in the summer of 7th grade. It was pretty straight forward and I enjoyed it. I thought programming would be easy…LOL.
It ends up that my first “language” was C++ and BASIC (I took the classes together – bad idea – I had no idea what I was doing). It was super hard and it didn’t help that my instructor was a good programmer, because I needed more of step-by-step explanations. I also never understood “why” we were doing things a certain way.
After that first summer semester (there were two each summer), I knew programming wasn’t for me, and it made me mad that some other people in the class were more advanced or picked it up quicker. However, since my parents had already paid for the second semester, I was forced to stick with it.
The next semester, I took visual basic and HTML/CSS classes. Slowly, it began to click. I started to finally understand how computers work and that only made me want to learn more. I started going to these used book fairs and would make my parents buy used programming books because the new ones were super expensive. I could get three used ones for the price of a new one.
My library in my room was filling up with books on C++, Web design, and Visual Basic. Programming was still very hard, but I was getting the hang of it.
Throughout the school year, I continued to learn and build small programs. When I was bored in class, I would write them down on scraps of paper and then test them out when I got home to see if I did everything correctly. I started learning a little bit about java and the summer after 8th grade, I took more classes through the same program at Bently college.
That next summer it was: 3d Max, Java, more c++, and Perl. I also learned some PHP on the side. I just couldn’t get enough of the stuff! It was also a great camp environment where we would play networked computer games and when people weren’t looking, set up different computers in the room to allow remote desktoping so we could play tricks on other campers and control their screen.
The summer classes prepared me pretty well for high school and I took programming classes up until senior year of high school. I also took a few illustrator/photoshop classes in high school.
At that point, I was beginning to lose interest in the idea of becoming a programmer as a career. I strongly disliked my junior year high school teacher and realized if I ever had a boss like that, I would be very unhappy. I also realized I wasn’t the “best” programmer, even though I could do it.
In college, I learned a bit more web development and tried my hand at Ruby on Rails, but I didn’t have the same level of passion as earlier. Still, following that passion while it lasted has given me some awesome skills that I’m using now building startups that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Never can tell where following your passions will lead.
Lesson: There is always a difficult period initially when picking up a new skill. At first, everything seems unfamiliar and difficult. If you press through that period however, you will begin to see some results, which will motivate you even more and you will begin to enjoy the process.
Psychology
I started getting interested in psychology in high school and for a while was convinced I was going to be a psychologist or psychiatrist. I’m still fascinated with psychology, but I think at the time, it was linked to my growing passion for philosophy and beginning to question the world as a young adult.
Like with programming, I bought a TON of books on psychology and devoured them. This passion lasted into college, when I stubbornly took upper level psychology courses as a freshman (and did well lol – bragging) because I didn’t get why I shouldn’t be able to.
Ultimately, it wasn’t until I started to become interested in startups when this passion waned. Still – it’s given me a unique insight into how the mind works and why people do what they do, which informs my business decisions.
Lesson: You don’t need to have a career plan to learn a new subject. Sometimes, it can just be for fun and it may benefit you down the road.
Exercise
It might sound weird to include exercise as a skill-set, but I think setting and achieving exercise goals has helped me as an entrepreneur more than any of the above.
We all have certain conceptions about who we are and what we look like. When I decided towards the end of high school that I wanted to look and feel a certain way about my body, I had no idea how to begin changing my muscle tone or fat levels.
Like with the other passions, I read a lot of books, watched a lot of youtube videos on fitness, and started lifting weights and running. It took me about 2 years, but I ultimately figured out the best practices for my body and started seeing great gains in muscle mass and had a six pack for the first time of my life. It feels awesome to be complemented or for people who knew you previously to be surprised at your progress.
Setting and achieving long-term goals gives you a certain confidence that you can do anything, as long as you focus on making measurable improvements each day and stay consistent. Achieving my exercise goals made me realize that I could achieve anything if I set my mind to it and even if I wasn’t successful initially, I could figure it out along the way.
Lesson: Consistency, focus, and rapid learning are vital to achieve success. You can’t just go to the gym and have one good workout. You have to have consistently good workouts over a period of months, while also feeding your body the proper doses of protein to give your muscles the resources to grow.
Business & Sales
As I look back on these passions now, some of them started from a curiosity standpoint. Some started when I redefined who I wanted to be in the world. My passion for business began with a book (Rich Dad Poor Dad), when I realized I didn’t know as much about the world as I should and that I didn’t know much about the “rules of the game”.
It kindled a fire in me and like with the above interests, I read everything I could get my hand on. For about a year, I took classes in college related to business, watched youtube videos and read books until I felt comfortable with my understanding of how business worked.
At that point, I started getting some real world experience and interned at a few companies and entered some business plan competitions. I got over my fear of sales, networking, and public speaking deliberately by working with real customers, selling them products, and forcing myself to speaking in public.
Often times at networking events, I was the youngest person there, and since I was under 21, I couldn’t drink like the other people, which was super weird. I took a few small jobs solely for the purpose of learning to sell. At one point I worked with a company where I literally had to go into restaurants and eateries and sell the product cold. I quickly learned how to develop rapport and not come across as a psycho salesman.
Eventually, I started launching my own companies and products, which is where the real learning began.
Conclusion: What I learned
Great things have always come from following my passions, so I would recommend this for others as well. Even if it doesn’t lead to a tangible result, the skills you learn will help you later down the road.
We have a huge emphasis in society on only focusing and specializing in a particular area. In addition, any new learning should fit into a larger vision of becoming a doctor or a programmer. I think that’s complete B.S. and is primarily driven by employers looking to find employes to fit in a square peg. That type of rhetoric is to their advantage, not yours. Learn things that you want to learn and see where it takes you.
Concluding thought: You are always limited by your skillset and the skillset that you can attract. These skills have given me the ability to enter marketplaces that I wouldn’t be able to before. I am still lacking in many areas, so I am doing my best to learn one new skill a year. What will you commit to learning?