If you really think about it, launching a business is pretty foolish. I don't have exact statistics but I'd bet at least 70% of start-ups are out of business after 5 to 7 years time (it's a highly contested debate: "failure rates"). Even if you are successful though, you have to have tons of resilience to make it. The stats are basically working against you and if you do the math you're bound to fail. Have I gone off the deep end to basically insult everyone I back as a VC? Well no, I like working with fools and never really believe in stats.
Let me make a general comparison to get my point across. Go up to any couple shortly before they get married. No really, try this. Right before they walk up the aisle of the church (or pull up to the drive-thru in Vegas), ask them about their chances of success when it comes to their marriage. Of course they are going to say 100%. Everyone gets married on the back of the perceived 100% chance of success. It's foolish since almost half of all marriages end up in divorce (true and not a "stat") but people don't get married on the back of stats. It's all about heart. It's the emotions that make you take the plunge and even though you know odds are against you, you go for it. You're a fool, a "fool for love"! Ok, before I get too touchy-feely, let me get back to my point.
When launching a business, you know odds are against you. Really, when looking at VC deals, the chances are so slim that it's a foolish bet. Again, I've said before and will say it again, it's about resilience when it comes to being successful. Yet, to take the actual plunge you better have heart or put in another way, you better be passionate about being an entrepreneur. It's not a "lifestyle" nor is it as glamorous as it's often made out to be. To go "all in" you have to be a fool and be ready to fail. You have to take huge risks and blindly march onward. You will never have a 100% guarantee. To be honest, you'll never even have a 50% guarantee. This is why I so love my job. The people whom I get to interact with are so foolish that you're bound to enjoy working with them, no matter how hard it is at times. The one's that aren't all that foolish really don't excite me and generally don't end up working with me. I'm fine with that.
