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(Comic) A Wantrepreneur Builds a Startup Empire

“Rome wasn’t built in a day either…” 

I first saw this unapologetic declaration on a billboard sign on a highway that is perennially under construction. And it always reminds me that startups have to be treated the same way.

Entrepreneurs and wantrepreneurs approach creating a startup empire differently.  Firstly, what’s a wantrepreneur? They are the eager beavers who may look, act, and seem like entrepreneurs – but all without owning an actual business!

Let’s examine the wantrepreneur scenario when building a startup empire:

  1. This is the one…the idea of the century!” Wantrepreneurs rarely focus on the problem to solve. 
  2. “Oooooh features! I love features!” Wantrepreneurs don’t create a foundation and work incrementally, but instead fast forward and jump in the deep end before learning to swim. 
  3. “I’ll just whip together the business in no time!” Wantrepreneurs always underestimate the time it takes to grow a business. 
  4. “If you build it they will come.” Wantrepreneurs believe the only thing stopping them from customers, is the lack of product. 
  5. “Money… I’ll figure it out later.” Wantrepreneurs severely minimize the needed funding for their projects.

To build an empire you need a foundation, vision, support, and patience. Serial entrepreneurs know this; it is second nature to them. As they move with tremendous speed, they know they have to learn to walk before they run. A scalable, repeatable business model is necessary before expanding too big or out of reach. 

How do you approach building an empire? Let us know in the comments below.

This was original published on #entrepreneurfail: Startup Success.

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Check out our other comics on trhs here.

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12 Comments

  1. Delightfully insightful.

    You have spotted the tendencies in Wantreneurs perfectly and have been guilty of some of them, no wait… all of them !

    I love your cartoon too 🙂

    Keep Rocking!

  2. Too true! 

  3. Thank you!

  4. Thanks a ton. Look forward to your comics!

  5. 🙂

  6. Nice post,

  7. Thanks Harry!

  8. thanks for the warnings!  we need to see the serious side of the comic…brick by brick …inch by inch is the way to go!

  9. It’s so easy to fall into the trap!

  10. Super post 😀 🙂 So true!

  11. Thanks Prateek!!

  12. I think this was spot on .

    Maybe a significant number of entrepreneurs set off with a  “Wantreneur” ish attitude and experience teaches them otherwise. Influenced by movies and books, it seems like you can achieve great success in less time. But as you mentioned it takes time to  build an empire that will sustain.

    Great Cartoon !

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