And three signs you should too.
Business shouldn’t be like gambling, but sometimes when you stumble upon a strategy, model, or product that seems to kick off ridiculously positive, lucrative returns, a similar addictive property can arise. In other words, if you knew that for every dollar you put into a business, you’d get $8 back out, why wouldn’t you keep reinvesting all your profits in perpetuity until or unless those returns drastically waned?
That’s exactly what I did for years, until a eureka moment had me stop everything and walk away in favor of a brand-new, uncharted pursuit.
If you’ve allowed financial returns, easy money, or no-brainer logic to dictate which ventures you do — and don’t — invest in and pursue, this article just may offer an unconventional viewpoint you hadn’t considered. I’m not suggesting you should aim to fix things that aren’t broken, but I’m also here to remind you that you’re still allowed to walk away — and I’ll give you three good reasons why you probably should.
Back when I worked in finance, recruiters would openly talk about the “golden handcuffs” of a well-paying 9-to-5. In other words, some jobs are just too cushy, prestigious, or lucrative to willingly walk away from — even if there might be a more intriguing, exciting opportunity elsewhere (albeit one with a riskier return or less guaranteed outcome).
While the idea of “golden handcuffs” is no stranger to the corporate employee’s verbiage, it isn’t so often associated with one’s own startup. Why? Well, simply put, startups typically evoke the concepts of risk, uncertain returns, and far from guaranteed easy money. However, that doesn’t mean a successful startup can’t evolve to hold hostage its founder, and in my case, I was shackled by golden handcuffs of my own creation.
I believe there are two types of founders:
The logics, like myself, may have had enough courage to take the risk on starting a venture, but we aren’t so brazen, carefree, or optimistic…