Do You Have the Personality to Manage a Startup?
你具备创业的品质吗？

A while back, when a startup founder mentioned to me that he wasn’t sure he had the personality to be an entrepreneur, I realized how important that insight was. My first thought is that if you are more annoyed than energized by expert advice, team suggestions, and customer input, then you should probably avoid this line of work.
前段时间，有个创业者向我提及，说他不确定自己是否具有成为企业家的品质，这让我意识到，领悟到这一点很重要。我的第一反应是如果你觉得专家意见、团队建议、客户意见这些给你带来的烦恼多过激励，那么你真的应该躲开这条工作路线。

Actually, it’s more complicated than that, but that’s a good start. After working with entrepreneurs for almost a decade now, I have developed a good “radar” to quickly recognize mentalities that will likely pass the test of investors, employees, and customers.
实际情况远远没这么简单，不过这是一个好的开始。经过与企业家一起工作了差不多有十年，现在的我给自己安装了一个“好雷达”，能够迅速判断出哪些品性有可能通过投资者、雇主和顾客的测试。

But it’s easier for me to look in from the outside than it is for you to look out. So here is a list of mentality characteristics which I believe are absolutely necessary for you as an entrepreneur to see in yourself. On the other hand, if you see any of these causing you stress and discomfort, you probably won’t be happy in the role of entrepreneur:
不过，比起对于我来说很容易的自省吾身，创业者的客观评判就要难得多。所以我列出了一些我认为成为企业家很重要的心理品质。另一方面，如果你发现下面的这些品质给你带来压力或者不适，那么你很有可能无法从企业家的角色里发现乐趣。

[en1. ]You enjoy being the visionary leader. Being able to envision what the business and the industry will be like in years to come is a skill that can guarantee that you will be around for the long haul. What makes most success stories in business is not totally reinventing the wheel, but leading the charge to make the current wheel better.[/en]

享受作为一个有远见的领导人的状态。能够设想自己的事业在未来几年里会发展到怎样的状态，这是保证你的事业能长期发展的一个技能。大多数商业成功故事之所以会成功，并不是白费力气做重复工作，而是带头冲锋让现有的事业变得更好。

2. Sometimes you are creative, sometimes logical. A successful entrepreneur has to come up with innovative ideas, but also turn them into a value-creating profitable business. That requires good amounts of both “left brain” and “right brain” activities, with enough common sense to find the balance.
创意性和逻辑思维并存。 一个成功的企业家需要提出有创造性的想法，也要具有将想法变成能创造价值的盈利产业的能力，这就同时需要大量“左脑”和“右脑”活动，另外还要有足够的常识找到它们的平衡点。

3. Risk energizes you. To really enjoy the ride in the world of entrepreneurship, you need to be able to sustain yourself outside of your comfort zone and have a sense of adventure. Startups never ever go as you anticipated. This is why you need to be ready to go “off the script” and improvise, and enjoy the thrill of victory when it works.
风险激励创业。要在企业家精神的世界里享受旅程，你需要跳出自己的舒适区域并且持之以恒，还要有一种探险的精神。创业从来就不会按你的预期发展，这也是为什么你需要随时准备扔掉剧本即兴演出的原因。如果你能做到，那请享受胜利带来的快感吧。

4. Actively seek others input. The quicker you learn not to take it personally (and it’s hard when it’s your business and your creation), the more successful you will be. You will always come across people that will criticize you, no matter how great or valuable your product or service may be.
主动寻求他人意见。越快学会不要太过介意别人的批评（当然因为是自己的事业和创意，完全不在意很困难），你就会越成功。不论你的产品或服务多伟大多有价值，你都会一直遇到批评你的人。

5. Motivated yet patient. When you start a business, you need to have the frame of mind that this is what you want to do for the rest of your life. Most people want financial freedom, but they want results immediately, and that is not the case 99% of the time. Most successful entrepreneurs understand that overnight success takes years.
要有积极性，也要有耐心。开始一项事业的时候，你要有明确的心态：这就是我下半辈子想要做的事情。大部分人想要财务自由，但是他们马上就要看到成效，大部分的情况下这都是不可能的。最成功的企业家们明白：一夜成功也是需要很多年时间的努力的。

6. Jack of all trades. When running a business, you'll be doing a little bit of everything. You have to be good but not an expert at everything you do, and you have to know when to be flexible and when to ask for help. If you are one to specialize in just one thing, then running a business might not be for you.
百事通。经营企业，你得什么都会一点。你不需要事事都是专家，但是必须事事都能做好，不要学会灵活多变，知道什么时候需求帮助。如果你是只能专门研究经营一件事的人，那经营企业可能不适合你。

If you don't fit into everyone’s personal view of an entrepreneur's mentality, please don't be totally discouraged. Winning businesses have been started by people of every type. Yet overall, the facts are that about two-thirds of startups fail, so think hard before you ignore warning signs.
如果你发现自己并不符合大多数人对企业家品质的个人意见，请不要觉得非常气馁。每一种人都有可能创业并取得成功。但总的说来，约有2/3的创业失败这一事实摆在眼前，所以在无视这些警告信号之前要好好考虑清楚。

I’m convinced that if entrepreneurs spent half as much time evaluating themselves and what makes them happy, as they do writing business plans, and visiting with attorneys and accountants, they would be winners far more often.
如果企业家们能用写商业计划和拜访律师会计一半的时间，来评估下自己和衡量下什么能给他们带来乐趣，我相信他们成为赢家的机会要多得多。

Finally, don’t forget that the most important mentality aspect is to always do something that you enjoy. Life is too short to be going to work every day unhappy. Beyond that, I believe success is a state of mind derived from confidence, self esteem, and what you really want in life. How strongly do you really want to manage a startup?
最后不要忘记，最重要的心理品质是要一直做自己喜欢做的事。生命太过短暂，何必每天不开心地工作。除此之外我相信，成功是一种来源于自信自尊和生活真正需求的心理状态。问问自己，你到底有多想创业呢？