by Anthony K. Tjan | 2:17 PM October 6, 2009
The late Oscar Levant — American pianist, composer, actor, hypochondriac, and world-class neurotic — once remarked, “There is a thin line between genius and insanity. I have erased that line.” As Levant saw it, this blur gave him creative impetus. Just as Levant achieved renown by navigating the lighter and darker sides of his imagination, couldn’t the same be said of great entrepreneurs?
To be truly great, entrepreneurs need to be a little…out there. After all, fearless creativity, maverick thinking and risk taking seldom show up in the middle of the bell curve. As venture capitalists, we see our fair share of aspiring and veteran entrepreneurs, and have often wondered if the man or woman standing before us was brilliant, deluded, or a combination of the two. In one of my previous posts, I explored the relationship between our strengths and weaknesses and how they are often one in the same: your strength is often your weakness and your weakness is often your strength. The goal is to find the optimal balance between the two.
Perhaps one of the most important and delicate balances that great entrepreneurs must finesse is the one between risk-taking and vulnerability. Now, the term “vulnerability” typically carries with it a host of negative connotations. If a risk-taker is generally perceived as bold, driven and admirably extroverted, a “vulnerable” person is apt to be seen as gentle, weak, introverted and easily assailable. Yet here’s the paradox: vulnerability is among the defining characteristics of the greatest entrepreneurs I know. Inside these people lies an inner, highly nuanced vulnerability that actually buttresses their externally directed strength.
The nuance lies in the type of vulnerability that they have and their recognition and comfort with it. Let’s be clear: there is a vital difference between what I call passive and active vulnerability. Passive vulnerability refers to the condition of being vulnerable without choosing to be. Active vulnerability comes from engaging in a contemplated risk that considers and hopes for the payoff, financial or otherwise will be worth the effort. Active vulnerability is in essence proactive and informed risk-taking. Passive vulnerability is reactive and submissive exposure.
But with that said, you might wonder, would anyone in his or her right mind “choose” to be vulnerable? Asking that question may be the reason why you are probably not an entrepreneur! The willingness to be vulnerable isn’t driven by the desire for exposure, but by the possibility of what that exposure might lead to — be it a meaningful role, the possibility to affect change, and, of course, greater financial gain.
The test of a great entrepreneur is one who can continue in the face of failure and does not fall prey to passive vulnerability. Lavant’s “thin line” for many entrepreneurs is the one between resilience and vulnerability. There are many would be entrepreneurs who have tried an idea and failed and never been able to get going quite in the same way. What was once once active vulnerability turns passive. Others surf the line between resilience and vulnerability successfully, understanding that repeated failure is usually necessary to achieve success. Some even thrive as much on the failure (and the learning and strength that can come with it) as on success. As VCs we try to understand how entrepreneurs deal with active vulnerability and failure. If they fail, will they feel defeated or more determined than ever to try again? If they succeed, will they feel satiated, or still hungry and willing to take on new challenges, putting at risk their newly minted reputation?
The story of how inventor James Dyson went through 5127 prototypes and 5126 “failures” to get his massively successful vacuum cleaner “right” is the stuff of entrepreneurial legend. Dyson was fond of saying that the inventor and entrepreneur’s life is one of failure. Embracing vulnerability and its rewards — whether those are lessons from failed efforts or life-changing (even world-changing) success — that’s the stuff of great entrepreneurs.
ANTHONY K. TJAN
Anthony Tjan is CEO, Managing Partner and Founder of the venture capital firm Cue Ball, vice chairman of the advisory firm Parthenon, and co-author of the New York Timesbestseller Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck (HBR Press, 2012).
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