Serial entrepreneur Scott Galloway, who sold his second company, L2, for $158 million in 2017, says that entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone — and that certain traits define successful founders.
In a recent episode of The Diary of A CEO, host Steven Bartlett asked Galloway, a bestselling author and NYU Stern MBA professor, if anyone can start a company and become a successful entrepreneur.
Galloway said no.
“There are certain attributes that most people don’t have,” he said, adding, “First and foremost, you have to be really risk-aggressive and have that willingness to fail. You’re willing to take huge risks.”
Scott Galloway. Photo by Tobias Hase/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
Galloway gave an example of MBA students he’s talked to who have offers at big companies like Google or JPMorgan. They are debating if they should work at these places for a few years before starting their own ventures, or reject the offer and start their own businesses instead.
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He tells these students to “go work for Google.”
“On a risk-adjusted basis, the most unbelievable platform for generating wealth and opportunity and long-term economic security is the American corporation,” Galloway said. “If you have access to those platforms, unless you hate it and are terrible at it, you should go that way.”
Galloway said that most entrepreneurs didn’t get a choice — they most likely didn’t have access to the same career opportunities as an NYU Stern MBA student.
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He also said that risk aggressiveness on its own is not enough. Galloway emphasized that successful entrepreneurs find ways for risks to pay off and they can sell. They can convince investors, users, and employees of the company’s vision with a compelling narrative.
Galloway called storytelling “the greatest skill you can develop or that you want your kids to have that will stand the test of time.” That’s the skill that gets other people on board.
He pointed to Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos as two examples of this skill in action.
“The core competence that’s going to get you real influence and economic security is storytelling,” Galloway said.
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