I believe there are three critical ingredients in an entrepreneur:

  • Faith
  • Trust
  • Passion 

In Business Plans That Work, the authors state:

We find that entrepreneurs often ask, “What can go right?” whereas nonentrepreneurs ask, “What can go wrong?”

Asking “What can go right?” is an act of faith.  It is faith that you have been given sufficient talent and drive, which, when combined with the experience you have earned, will enable you to succeed.  But you also need trust.  In my case, it was trust in a business partner, whom I’ve known for 20 years.  It was also the encouragement and support of a trusted friend, Kirby, who had preceded me in the entrepreneurial plunge.  His life seems to exemplify the values promoted by Pay It Forward. No one makes it as an entrepreneur without someone beside them, in front of them or behind them as a support.

Success doesn’t mean, of course, that you won’t have failures.  But, if you have sufficient faith, you know that, if you get knocked down, you will stand up again.  Here’s a great example.  Tonight I brought a group of about 20 children to our temple to perform music and an Israeli folk dance at the opening of the annual meeting of Jewish Family Service of Metrowest (JFS).  Last year JFS honored a man, Joe Press, at their annual gala.  Joe’s life is an inspiring story, and I turn to thoughts of Joe, whenever I need to squelch the urge to complain. 

Joe is a true entrepreneur.  He started a successful importing business back in the 40s, from a hospital bed in Framingham, Massachusetts.  He was in that bed for about seven years, as he tried to recover from an injury suffered during World War II.  Despite being knocked down, he stood up again.  At least figuratively. The injury was to his spinal cord and left him paraplegic. Two more things you should know about Joe.  While he has accomplished much during his life, he didn’t do it all alone. He had the support of his wife, Lucy.  Second, like my friend, Kirby, Joe and Lucy looked beyond their personal needs to the needs of others and chose to make a difference.  At least through last year, Joe, now well past 80, was still tutoring Russian immigrants in English as a second language, and together, Joe and Lucy helped organize a local food pantry that bears their name.

In my first blog entry, I mentioned that one of the reasons I started my company was so that I would have more direct control over how the profits I generated are used.  One way I plan to use the profits is to create a substantial just-in-case fund for a family member.  The other is to help some organizations about which I care deeply.  One of those organizations is JFS.  And another is Metrowest Jewish Day School (MWJDS).  Which brings me to my final critical ingredient for the successful entrepreneur: passion. 

Though I have consulted to many startups over the years, MWJDS was probably my first direct experience being part of a startup.  And when my wife and I decided to send our youngest son to school there, it was an act of faith.  The school was only about 35 students and only went to third grade, but had a vision to add a grade each year up through 8th grade.  It was also an act of trust.  Our friend, Aron, and his wife, Susan, were among the founders of the school.  And we trust them. Now, after serving on the school’s board of directors for a year, I can tell you, it is also an act of passion.

I was meeting with two gentlemen this past week who have started a very interesting company.  There’s nothing much I can share right now, but they are developing some technology that will help ensure the recoverability of critical information under the most tragic of circumstances.  So why do I mention them? I mention them, because there is a good possibility that we will be working together.   But our conversation didn’t start with a conversation about their technology, or their company, or my company and our capabilities.  It started with a passionate conversation between myself and one of the founders regarding the establishment of two Jewish day schools: ours in Framingham, Massachusetts, and his, in Hong Kong.  That’s right, Hong Kong.  We both were left with the impression that, if we could apply to his company that same level of passion we used  to make our respective schools successes, together we had a good chance of success.