A VC in Vacationland

Fred Wilson has an interesting Blog on Looking for the Passion.  Fred’s point was that seeing the passion in an entrepreneur’s eyes was an important factor in deciding whether to invest in the business plan. Without a doubt, it is something I look for in any business relationship.  Who wants to buy something from someone who is not passionate about what they are selling? (OK, leave aside car dealers…)

I was having a conversation about passion with one of my entrepreneurs recently.  She was worried about all the things she needed to do to be successful and was getting overly stressed and not sleeping at night.  Sounds typical, right? As an entrepreneur, you are responsible for every little detail and sometimes feel that any mistake, however small, can take you down.  It’s not true, of course, but it does haunt many an entrepreneur.

So, what to you do when you are down in the dumps?  The best entrepreneurs I know use their passion for what they are doing to offset the stress of doing it. You have to draw on your passion for your idea you have built up over the years to convince yourself that all will work out–assuming, of course, that you have the money, the correct business plan and are carefully executing the plan.

In the dark of night, think about all the good things that will happen if you execute your plans and don’t focus on those things you cannot do anything about at 4am.  You will conserve your energy and get a little sleep so that you can attack those problems during the day. Stress can rob you of the creative energies you need to be successful.  Use your passion to push stress into the background, where it can help drive you forward, but not dominate your life.