Yesterday, I was invited as a guest speaker at Brandies University. They offer an interesting course to budding entreprenuers, innovators, and non-linear folks who are itching to create new products either within their existing companies, or build start-ups around their ideas. My recommendation to them was -- Don't do it! Its painful, intense and years go by with your entire existence dedicated to your idea or your product. But if your idea still keeps you up at night and you really think that its worth the pain, then you may be onto something. But always weigh it against all the negatives associated with bringing a product to market: hyper competition, equity value dilution, marketing pressures, raising capital, worrying about missing pay cycles, and then chasing the elusive closure either through an acquisition or IPO.
The class asked really good questions and I hope I was able to impart some information to them. I did tell them not to buy a big house and to always have plenty of cash reserves. The more financially sound one gets, the more risk they can take. However, the risk should always be calibrated to your current financial base.
But once you go down this path, holding a normal 9-5 job is akin to retirement.
