Startups & Babies

Whilst spending time with my newborn son in the last 48 hours, I realized that it's possible to draw a lot of comparisons between how founders act within their startups and how parents do with their newborn babies.

The one comparison that particularly jumped out at me, is how new parents (any parents?) believe that their baby is just the most beautiful baby in the world. I've yet to meet a parent who doesn't believe that their baby is the most beautiful in the world and I'd be lying if I didn't admit I have the same feeling about my newborn son.

I don't care that rationally this might not be the truth. I can even accept the fact that I'd never be able to prove this or that with 6bn-odd people on the earth, that this is statistically very improbable. This doesn't matter though, because I believe this to be the truth.

And this is how I believe startup founders should view their own businesses: in their eyes, it should be the best in the world. Founders need to have the kind of conviction & determination to make their startups succeed, even if all rationale odds indicate to the contrary. In most cases - and especially in the early stages of a startup - the rationale stuff doesn't matter; instead it's about chasing that burning fire called passion and working hard to execute your idea(s). It doesn't matter whether a sexier startup exists out there.

Your startup will flourish with the kind of love & attention you'll direct to it if this were your mindset.