A good #10 for your list may be “Tackle Hills Head-on.” Handle bumps in the road with confidence, knowing that your hard work will pay off ;).

Love the corporate America analogy ;-).

Thx for the comment.

Should be ’startup.’ Oh, and Saturday should be capitalized (first sentence).

And dang good post, loved the simile.

Great post!

I did my first 1/2 marathon this year. One of the things I found to be the key to finishing the race in a great time (1:57) was to surround myself with the right people. Not in the race but in the training. I didn’t surround myself with others doing their first race. I surrounded myself with Ironman Triathletes, Boston Marathoners, and people that live and breath running.

I think that startups are similar in the fact that you can surround yourself with a bunch of people that have never done it before or you can surround yourself with the best of the best. Learn from those that have done it and succeeded.

Always keeping in mind that those that have succeeded have probably failed more than anyone else you can find. No different than talking to a Boston Marathoner telling you the story how they started too strong and finished with their worst ever time. Learn from others’ mistakes to save yourself some time!

The parallels between running and business are so plentiful you could continue with a whole series on it…..

Mike

Congrats on marathon number 1! I say that because there is no chance you won’t do another. serial entrepreneurs = serial marathoners

Funny thing…I was thinking about this exact same topic this morning, albeit in a different context. Someone was talking about milestones and I was thinking how much they are like mile markers. Each one is different, each is just as important as the last in achieving your final goal and though the last ones are the hardest, they give us the biggest sense of accomplishment. So many more analogies, but I will let you and your readers make them.

On the cofounder issue; a marathon is even better when run with someone you trust to do the work too. I ran my last one with my best friend that recently moved to Wisconsin (I’m in TX). We trained together in different cities. It was amazing! Give it a try sometime.

Happy trails,
Gabriella

Much appreciated.

I agree with you that both start ups and marathon running do seem to run parallel.

I personally have worked at and been apart of starts up ad agencies for almost half my 10 year career. I love small businesses, especially ones that are new. There is that sense you can do anything, make your own rules and have the opportunity to not make the same mistakes that you have seen elsewhere. A freedom that you just don’t seem to get in big corporations.

I have only once worked in a large corporation and I could only handle six months. I am a small business person all the way. Less red tape. You can talk directly to or are the decision-maker.

You get credit for your own work (and you get to wear egg on your face if you screw up, but because it is a small team they are likely to rally behind you and help you solve the issue).

You won’t find slackers just hiding out trying to do as little as possible, because there is no where to hide.

You get a chance within whatever your role is to work outside of it, because there isn’t always someone hired in that role and you need to spread the work around to the people you have. Most of my greatest learning experiences were doing tasks and projects that were not in my job description, because I was helping out the team. It just broadens your skill set so much more than a narrowly defined role in a big corporation.

I know people who love working in big corporations may disagree, but this is how I feel and where I gravitate towards in my career decisions.

Thanks Dan for your insights! I have been following you since meshmarketing in Toronto. Your presentation made me look at websites in a whole new light.

-Lisa-