The first founder spent our entire lunch explaining why his startup wasn't growing: The market timing wasn't right. His investors weren't giving him enough runway. His team wasn't executing his vision properly. The economy was against him. By dessert, I had heard every possible reason why success was just out of reach–none of which had anything to do with him.
Three hours later, I met the second founder in her cramped office. Her startup was facing similar headwinds, but her response was radically different: 'I underestimated the sales cycle length. My initial go-to-market strategy was wrong. I'm working on three specific changes to fix this.' No excuses, no blame-shifting-just ruthless ownership and clear-eyed assessment.
Think about the most successful person you know personally. I bet they share this trait: When things go wrong, they look in the mirror first.
In the long run, the person who owns their failures will outperform the genius who outsources blame.
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