3 essential entrepreneurial ingredients

(1) You are curious and doing stuff.

I joke that many young entrepreneurs start with to-do list or social apps, the lowest common denominator of problems, because they don’t have exposure to diverse domains and people. Great opportunities emerge from hard earned insights; from doing and seeing interesting stuff, being at the frontier of industries or technologies, and learning from experts. As Rumi said, “When you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”

(2) You are constantly imagining better ways.

There are people who accept everything as-is, and there are others who’s minds are constantly (even annoyingly) whirring with ideas of how things can be better — more interesting, more efficient, or more accessible. But drowning in infinite, low quality ideas isn’t useful either. You have enough business and technical intuition to prune down to the high opportunity and practical visions.

(3) You have the skills and discipline to bring ideas to life.

Creative people with high openness naturally tend to lack focus and discipline. They can be idea machines with nothing to show but regrets of unrealized potential. Or capable creators who can’t sell or operate a business. Startups may be born out of creative insights and solutions, but require years of maniacal focus and grinding to actually grow into something meaningful.