The Other Side Of Entrepreneurship

Bringing From the Shadows The Secret Weapon for Successful Entrepreneurship.

Follow the Rabbit

Almost every Hero Journey is the same; a regular human with a simple life is charmed into an adventure. One day your computer screen shows three words: -Follow the Rabbit-, and from this moment on, your life changes. Just like Neo in The Matrix movie.

At the beginning of every quest, entrepreneurs face the same disorientation. They know that something is different inside them or outside their world. There are problems they want to solve. But they still don't understand their superpower or why they are "The Chosen One;" until the rabbit knocks on the door and they decide to follow it.

Like Neo, all the heroes or entrepreneurs in their journey struggle to accept their destiny. They don’t see how their skills are worth it. They fall in love, fight, lose, train, and forge their path. They then train again, fight, win some battles and lose others. They almost die or lose someone important. They prepare to fight again, succeed and fulfill their destiny, sort of like Neo the character at the end of the third sequel Matrix Revolutions. I’m excited to see the Matrix 4 Resurrections! by the way.

And just as Spider-Man, Frodo, and all other heroes, Neo is the protagonist, and he is "The One" that takes all the credit. Don't get me wrong, I think he deserves this merit. He made his way, fighting out thousands of Mr. Smiths and several others enemies. But isn't that the same for entrepreneurs? Steve, Elon, Bill, Jeff, Richard, etc., and many others?

The Other Side of the Matrix

So how is the Matrix different in real life? I think not. Before the Matrix, Neo was just a simple man working as a developer at day and as a hacker at night. Until Morpheus told him: "Unfortunately, no one can tell what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself..." and offered to choose between the blue pill and a red pill, Nep accepted the red one, the "truth" and opened his mind to the real world and realized what was happening, and he made the decision to do something about it.

Before becoming Spider-Man, Peter Parker was a kid trying to impress a girl and survive school; he didn't care about violence, thieves, or the Green Goblin. Frodo saved Middle Earth and liberated it from the evil of Sauron, but before destroying the ring in Mount Doom, he was a simple guy playing with his friends and drinking beer in The Shire.

Before becoming a successful Entrepreneur, everyone is a typical human overcoming their own challenges. But Spiderman, Frodo, Neo, and Entrepreneurs in addition to not being satisfied with the status quo have things in common.

What changed Neos's mind of being "The One" and saving Sion, or Peter Parker accepting his destiny and fighting the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus from destroying New York, or Frodo sacrificing his life to save the middle earth? The mindset of overcoming any challenge and The Secret Weapon.

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”. —Buddha

"Change Always is…" - The Oracle

In my last article, Wine Tasting, Weight Loss, Surviving a Pandemic and Build an Exponential Startup, I wrote: "…All the stories told were about following a series of steps, stacking one learning on top of the other, knowing where you want to go by understanding where you are. Then, using the right metrics, measuring, comparing, pivoting, learning, and keeping going, last but not least, having a support system, like my wife, friend, mentor, partners, and community…"

The Secret Weapon is a support and accountability system to succeed in your hero (entrepreneurial) journey.

Neo had Morpheo, who helped him understand why he was different and how he could save Sion. Not by saying what to do but bringing clarity to his path, the red pill was just about awareness. "I'm trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You're the one who must walk through it. – Morpheous". He also had the Oracle that, without giving advice, was helping him, made his mind, "You've Already Made The Choice. You're Here To Understand Why You've Made It". He also has Trinity, who fights almost every battle side by side, but let him fight his own battles, and many like them, others that help him overcome different challenges to succeed in his Hero Journey.

Peter Parker had his uncle Ben who helped him overcome his youth challenges, and advised, "With great power comes great responsibility." His aunt May also cared about him "Sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most". He also had his scientific mentor Norman Osborn later the Green Goblin "I know you have been through difficult things, but try to enjoy this day, it is just the beginning: one thing ends, a new begins".

Finally, Frodo's journey is supported by dozens of people who help him overcome the challenges on the quest. "I wish it had not happened in my time", said Frodo. "So do I", said Gandalf “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time given to us".

"It was your life that taught me the purpose of all life…" – Mr. Smith.

If you're not an Entrepreneur, What is your purpose in life? What Kind of Hero Builder are you?

My definition of Hero Builder is someone that serves as The Secret Weapon for Entrepreneurs, the support and accountability system around them. The wife, the husband, the family, the friend, the professor, the teacher, the coach, the mentor, the advisor, the consultant, and all of them that are in The Other Side of Entrepreneurship, those that help build the Steves, Elons, Bills, Jeffs, Richards, and the successful entrepreneurs around the world.

So like Neo, Spiderman and Frodo had different support systems, so the Entrepreneur needs to have one. Just like Dan Sullivan in his book Who not How wrote: “It takes vulnerability and trust to expand your efforts and build a winning team. It takes wisdom to recognize that 1) other people are more than capable enough to handle much of the Hows, and 2) that your efforts and contribution (your “Hows”) should be focused exclusively where your greatest passion and impact are. Your attention and energy should not be spread thin but purposefully directed where you can experience extreme flow and creativity. Results, not effort, are the name of the game. You are rewarded in life by the results you produce, not the effort and time you put in”.

But most of the time, the Hero Builders are not recognized; they are forgotten or left aside, so I wrote this article because I want to bring the Secret Weapon to this side where they, as Hero Builders, must be acknowledged.  Thank You for being a Hero Builder! Thank you for helping us expand and increase our ability to produce the desired results!. Thank you for helping us to succeed in our personal and professional journey, advising us, clarifying our path, fighting the battles at our side, opening the door for us, and letting us walk through ourselves! Thank You!

“There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit”. —Ronald Reagan

If you are on the path of building your next exponential startup, you can find your Secret Weapon in our ExO Builder community of OpenExO. We are more than 17K purposeful Hero Builders, where you will be able to find Instructors, sherpas, and Disruptors that support you and guide you. You will also find the blueprint of building your venture coined as EBELI (Evidence Based Entrepreneurship & Lean Innovation). And if you If your purpose in life is to help others, join us supporting 10 million entrepreneurs in the next ten years. Follow the path of EBELI and help others to do the same.

<script src="https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js" pubname="openexocom" widgetname="0016900002YSqZB_16534"></script>