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The “Wussy” Line
by: Bill Medica - 05/13/09
The “Wussy” Line
There comes a definitive moment when every person who thinks he or she wants to be an entrepreneur or start his or her own business has to look in the mirror and ask the tell-all question, “Am I a wussy?”
Our entrepreneurial mentor, the man who funded the start up for On Motion Media, spouted many colorful analogies over the years, but this is my favorite. He told me and my business partner the first day he met us that there is a line drawn in the sand, the “wussy* line” as he called it. It, and only it, has the power to determine if you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur., because only the bravest would cross it. (However, for editorial sake, his actual comment has been censored. You can imagine what he actually called it.)
The first time we met our investor was at his mansion, which sat on the 18th hole of a golf course. That experience alone was the perfect incentive. By simply inviting us into his well appointed home and walking us past a telescope that sat in front of an enormous bay window (a telescope that most likely cost more than the total of everything I owned), this man said very clearly, without saying anything, that here is what awaits you if you have the proverbial balls.
Many people have thought about owning their own businesses. They think about the fantasy aspects of it. How the offices will be decorated. Finding the catchy name that rolls off your clients’ tongues. What the logo will look like. They think about the business awards they will receive. They envision the joys of being their own boss and having a flexible schedule with no real accountability. And, of course, they dream of the oodles and oodles of money they will make from day one. Rarely, do they think about the lawsuits, the sluggish cash flow, the temperamental employees, the thankless late-night hours, or just the mere cost of Wellbutrin.
That fateful first day of meeting our mentor wasn’t about business plans or cash projections at all. It was a meeting for this investor to size up our characters. He was attempting to gauge if we had the drive, the ambition, the “chutzpah” to actually make it as business owners. As he sat speaking sentence after sentence of business gibberish, using words like “tranches” and warning that we needed a strong exit strategy for a business that wasn’t even formed, he was really sizing us up to see if we had what it would take to be “real entrepreneurs,” non-wussies (so to speak).
We smiled and nodded confidently when he asked us if we had the stomach for it. He likened the experience of running a start-up company to the first 30 minutes of the film “Saving Private Ryan” and the blood-bath on the beach of Normandy. He laughed when he relayed his “wussy line in the sand” analogy. He told us most people would never step over it and only a true entrepreneur would. He went on to say we’d experience the highest highs and the lowest lows, but we’d always be aware that we are alive. He told us once the entrepreneurial spirit is in our blood, we will be entrepreneurs forever.
While we politely assured him we were ready for battle, we were, in reality, completely unsure. We did not know the first thing about what he was talking about because we had no idea what it would really take to have our own business. But, we did know we had the courage to step over that line in the sand. It was the first and most crucial step.
Since that time I’ve gained perspective and now realize what this powerful man was talking about. On the one side of the “wussy” line, the side where most people stay, is the world of security, guaranteed paychecks, healthcare, a boss to bitch about, happy spouses, vacations, restful sleep and being in shape. A world without hyperventilation, panic attacks and stress-induced skin blistering.
On the other side of that line is the entrepreneur. And trust me, on this other side there is no room for “wussies.”
