What’s It Like Living with an Entrepreneur?

By Bruce Firestone | Uncategorized

Mar 04

Entrepreneurs are
know-it-alls. Many of them believe (incorrectly) that a marketplace is what
they perceive it to be instead of this—the market is right even when it’s
wrong.

In addition to being
supremely confident, they are insecure, in need of constant praise and
reinforcement; they have a tendency to flit from one great idea to the next,
requiring a near constant buzz, which comes from the rush and excitement of
trying to push boundaries to do what no one else has been able to do before.

They are always
working or thinking about their work, which of course is more important than
what everyone else around them is doing with their lives. They don’t like
limits or rules, and feel less pressure to fit in than other, more normal
people.

They have so much
energy, they don’t know what to do with themselves. It’s like living next to a
stash of black powder; all it needs is the tiniest spark to set off an
explosion. They tend to suck all the air out of room[1].

In other words, they
are a complete pain in the arse.

I’ve said it before: the real reason most people
become entrepreneurs is maybe not what you think it is. It’s not—to be their
own boss, make more money, set their own hours, work their own hours or because
they can’t find other work. No, it’s often because they believe they can create
more interesting work for themselves than others can create for them[2]

They are also vital to a modern economy.

@ profbruce 

[1] This is also true, I have
discovered, of celebrities, film stars, rock stars, politicians, starchitects,
and media personalities.

[2] Would I have gotten a
chance to build dozens of office buildings, retail plazas and subdivisions,
develop 100s of homes, start or help start over 300 businesses including Ottawa
Business News (now OBJ, Ottawa Business Journal), work on the Palladium, found
the Ottawa Senators, teach at Carleton’s Azrieli School of Architecture &
Urbanism and Sprott School of Business as well as University of Ottawa’s Telfer
School of Management and Faculty of Engineering, if I’d stayed with the New
South Wales government in Sydney or Supply and Services Canada’s Bureau of
Management Consulting?

Excerpt from Don’t Back Down, the real story of the founding of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and why big leagues matterhttps://www.brucemfirestone.com/ottawa-senators/

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About the Author

Bruce is an entrepreneur/real estate broker/developer/coach/urban guru/keynote speaker/Sens founder/novelist/columnist/peerless husband/dad.

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