When you look at successful businesses – be it one of the tech startup unicorns, a thriving social business or a nonprofit making a dent in the universe, they all have one thing in common:

Someone once made a courageous decision.

No doubt: It takes guts to start any type of company. Building and running it, requires skill and perseverance.

Building something truly great and successful requires a lion’s heart filled with courage. The odds will be stacked against you. The world will call you crazy. The obstacles will feel insurmountable.

And yet: The only way to build something great is by starting with a courageous decision.

Eventually it will get easier. The world will come around and cheer you on. And every obstacle you overcome will be another victory for you to celebrate.

This leads me to another point, made by one of the prominent U.S. military figures.

As the U.S. Naval hero of the American Revolution and Father of the U.S. Navy, John Paul Jones, said:

“Those who will not risk cannot win.”

Put yourself out there and take some risks fellow entrepreneurs. It’s the only way to win.

However, I don’t mean whatever risks.

Every (sane) investor applies some type of portfolio theory to their investments. In its most simple form that means that she simply spreads out her risk across multiple investments. As an entrepreneur you don’t have that chance – for you it’s all or nothing. Or is it?

Three friends of mine decided to each build a startup and give the other two a stake in their respective companies. Portfolio theory. Turned out – it worked for them.

Granted this is hard to pull off. You need to have deep trust. And yet: Worth thinking about.

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