entrepreneurship is not a solo sport

Entrepreneurship is a bit like tennis but with more balls.

Think of a singles match. Most of our focus is on the two individuals doing things with a tennis ball that I can only dream of.  In fact I know the theory of exactly how to hit a ball, yet when it comes to a top spin lob, why does the ball end up in a different postcode/zipcode?

Anyway enough of my lack of tennis ability; I'll get to the point.  The tennis players are the stars and let me prove it:

"Did you see that line judge?  She had an amazing match.  The way she made those calls and interacted with the umpire,"  said no tennis fan ever.

Consider this.  Pop culture drools over successful entrepreneurs and they're presented as heroes to inspiring youngsters.  This bothers me.  It's not about the star, the idea they had or the car they're driving. It's about the execution of, the resilience and persistence and most importantly the team behind it.  Every successful start-up business has an outstanding team of people in supporting roles, advisory roles, gritty roles etc.

The truth is that without the umpires, ball kids, crowd, lawn experts, media, coaches, physios then the tennis match would be a dogs dinner of an event.  Instead, 21st century tennis (despite British weather) continues to thrive because of the incredible team effort.  

So whilst we're busy lauding the entrepreneurial rock stars and leveraging their swagger to inspire the next generation, it's actually the ability to build a team and inspire individually and collectively to do their best work and continue to grow, aces (see what I did there?) any snappy dressing, flashy, incey wincey, techy start-up wantrapreneur any day.  A bit like Nirvana was to music in the 90s, 'serving others' (boom) should be the new soundtrack for start-ups. Go build your team.  Inspire them. Empower them. Accelerate them.  Pay them as soon as you can.

Wish I'd written this in June.  Sorry I only just thought of it.  Big hello to all those line judges out there - we love you just as much.

​Simon