Hard Truths about Entrepreneurship: Urgency is OK. Panicking is not.
Our most recent Creative Factor salon brought together the most stubborn group of people in NYC: The people crazy enough to start new businesses.
The scariest part about being an entrepreneur is feeling like you have to carry the anxiety and weight of running your business solo. The real truth is that since every entrepreneur feels that way, we’re all way less alone than we think.
That was the main point of our most recent Creative Factor Salon this past week at the Coalesce HQ. These meetups of hand-selected creative individuals, entrepreneurs, and artists aren’t technically billed as therapy, but they end up having a similar effect. This time we were honored to host Working Not Working’s co-founder and CEO Justin Gignac as a guest speaker and his personal stories on conflict and creation reminded us of a few key points.
Namely, whether you’re leading a company, team, or your own one-person business, everyone can benefit from thinking and acting like an entrepreneur. It’s a bumpy ride, but it’s guaranteed to make you more resilient, one of the core traits of living a creative life.
Thinking like an entrepreneur is guaranteed to make you more resilient, one of the core traits of living a creative life.
Read Justin’s interview on The Creative Factor: How Two Guys Who “Know Photoshop” Built (and Sold) Working Not Working
Here are a few other takeaways we’re still thinking about:
Urgency is OK. Panicking is not.
We all feel a sense of “do it now,” but that instinct doesn’t have to be debilitating. Deadlines and urgency are natural motivators. Channeling that pressure into positive actions can help you avoid succumbing to the panic.
Lead with legacy in mind.
Justin’s legacy? Protecting creators and carving space for people to be creative. He said that finally realizing this was his life’s mission made the pieces all fall into place. Don’t know how to articulate what’s driving you? Ask a friend to introduce you at a Salon (we do this with everyone in the room) — we often find that your closest friends and confidants can market your skills way better than you ever will.
Emotions are part of the game. Don’t bury them.
If love is a battlefield then entrepreneurship is like a long ride on the Coney Island Cyclone. Hell, we teared up with Justin talking about leaving a great legacy (and then joked maybe we should start the Crying Not Crying spin-off business). This is also the only way we fight the robots (one of Working Not Working’s core values). Our humanity is our emotional capacity. Feel more, do better work. (Plus, you’ll be way more accessible to your other human colleagues.)
If love is a battlefield then entrepreneurship is like a long ride on the Coney Island Cyclone.
When you start something new, you are never starting from scratch.
You are bringing everything you’ve ever learned, every person you’ve ever met, and every day of your life with you. You are starting with good stuff and it’s helpful to remember that when you feel lost.
Embrace the weirdos. Champion the nerds.
The people who really bring themselves to work — like their real, weird selves — and their passion and their interests and their perspectives are the people who can make the most authentic products. Authenticity moves us all. Often to buy the thing you’re selling.
The people who really bring themselves to work — like their real, weird selves — are the people who can make the most authentic products.
AI is simply going to make us wonder harder.
Thinking of AI as an imagination-unlocking tool positions this new wave as helpful instead of threatening. Younger generations will be able to create and communicate more of their inventive ideas and stories, and imagery than we ever could have imagined. Not so “end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it” in that light.
Feeling inspired? Want to come to our next Salon (or a Coalesce Happy Hour): Shoot us a note hello@coalesce.nyc
