Oct

23

Lying is ok. Guy says so. I guess. That’s all I need to know.

Filed Under entrepreneurship, startup 

Q. You dedicate a few amusing chapters in “Reality Check” to lies told by entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, lawyers, engineers, business partners and C.E.O.’s. With all this rampant lying, are you suggesting that artful lying and lie-detecting are part of the game that entrepreneurs need to master?

A. If an entrepreneur’s lips are moving, she’s probably lying — though she may not know it. Part of being an entrepreneur is that you have to lie — first of all to yourself. You have to tell yourself that you can create something, people can build it, customers will buy it and you can collect the money.

If you cannot ignore the naysayers who tell you that it can’t be done, it shouldn’t be done, it isn’t necessary, you can’t be an entrepreneur. One of the best ways to ignore is to lie and deny.

The challenge is that once you do ship, you have to remove the lie-and-deny shields and listen to what your customers are telling you. Flipping this bit is one of the hardest things for an entrepreneur to do.

From The Care and Feeding of Entrepreneurs on the NYTimes.

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