At TEDCO, we have a playlist of songs (featured here and here) that we each find inspiring or that speak to the core values of TEDCO. For myself, that song is Hold On Tight by Electric Light Orchestra. The lyrics refer to the tenacity and determination needed to ‘hold on tight to your dreams’ whether you are an artist or an entrepreneur.
As someone who has pursued both the arts and entrepreneurship, I know firsthand that dreams and vision are the fuel that motivates someone to manifest their ideas into reality, whether you are talking about producing music or starting a new venture. But as investors will tell you, ideas are a dime a dozen.
So, what separates an idea from being a commodity versus an asset? It’s the founder’s tenacity to manifest and ‘hold on tight’ to that idea despite all odds. That relationship between the founder and their dreams is why many investors will also say that they invest in founders and not ideas. In other words, investors understand that, no matter how great an idea may be, they need to trust in the founder’s integrity and determination to not give up; investors need to believe that those they invest in will get past the various obstacles and “valleys of death” that many startups fall prey to.
In my book, The Entrepreneur’s Dance, I dedicate an entire chapter to integrity (or what I like to call entrepreneurial fortitude) where I sum up integrity as a mixture of hope, hap and help. Hope is not just wishful thinking, but the defiance that your dreams will become reality, no matter what other people think. Hap is the role of luck in that journey, defined as opportunity meeting preparation (a definition borrowed from Oprah Winfrey) combined with steadfastness to be prepared when opportunity arises. And help is the ability to both seek and offer help when needed – the ability to be coachable as well as your ability to index your own experience for others to learn from your successes and mistakes. Without these pillars of entrepreneurial fortitude, you’re likely to fall back on whatever plan B is prepared, thereby letting go of dreams and undermining your own integrity. Or as the Electric Light Orchestra more eloquently says:
When you see your ship go sailing
When you feel your heart is breaking
Hold on tight to your dreams
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t pivot, revise a business model or rebrand, and it certainly doesn’t mean new dreams can’t appear and take the place of old ones. Instead think of your dreams as assets that increase in value over time and provide you with the foundation for your integrity and entrepreneurial fortitude.