Paul put up a talk he gave at the final Y Combinator dinner of the summer called How Not to Die.  The message is not only to never give up, but to be as public as you can about your work to add extra motivation — since such publicity will make it “unthinkably humiliating to fail.”

There’s no doubt that without extremely dedicated founders, any start-up is doomed from the beginning.  Working hard and staying motivated through the miserable times (because there will be some) is essential to success.

Quitting makes sense sometimes, though, and the idea that quitting = failure = humiliating is dangerous.  Working extremely hard on a start-up for years only to eventually realise that it never had a chance to be successful no matter how hard and long you worked — that’s humiliating.  Not because hard work is bad, but because all that time could have been spent working hard on a different (and hopefully better) idea.

Good entrepreneurs have great vision and a unique perspective — on the market, their business, and the future of both.  Seeing ahead of time when hard work will get you through and when quitting is the best path to big picture success is what great entrepreneurs do well.

I like Paul’s essay.  His emphasis on focus is spot on.  His statement that “if you can just avoid dying, you get rich” is a bit much, but his analysis is interesting.  There’s a big difference between survival and success.

In this country, I maintain that it is relatively straightforward (but not necessarily easy) for a hard working person to build a sustainable business that supports a full life.  Hard work and decent decision making can pretty much get you through. 

Building an exceptionally successful business is complex (and hard) and often includes at least a few things going your way that are largely outside of your control, but within your ability to identify, understand, and react to — as long as you’re looking for them. 

So work hard, but not with blinders on.  Always balance intense effort with a quest for clarity and perspective.

Thanks to Peter for the link and Seth for inspiration.