In 2018 I published a memoir called: Finding the Exit; It’s Not Where You Start, It’s Where You Finish. While talking to different agents and publishers, one asked me a question I could not immediately answer - “What are you an expert at?”
My initial response was to tell her that I wasn’t an expert at anything. Expert is a strong word, not a moniker to be claimed lightly. She challenged me to think about it, “Everyone is an expert at something,” she said.
The next day, it occurred to me that perhaps I COULD claim to be an expert at one thing – not freaking out. Many years spent in small, fragile companies had taught me to maintain my composure and decision-making ability in the face of diamond-crushing pressure and odds that few seasoned gamblers would take.
I’d survived eight years as an employee and executive in risky start-up companies, and eighteen as a founder-CEO without developing any ulcers. I’d mastered the art of the empty-eyed stare as investors outlined why my company would never make it, the deep breath in the face of impending insolvency and the internal stillness needed to make the next phone call or the next pitch to sell an uncertain proposition to investors, customers and employees. I’d figured out how to sleep at night, not knowing if I could pay my mortgage that month, and consistently answer the question, “How is it going?”, with a resounding, “FAN-TAS-TIC”, even when I wanted to weep.
While my expertise does not carry as much gravitas as the ability to split atoms, perform neurosurgery or negotiate the release of hostages, it is a valuable skill for an entrepreneur.
I’m going to write it bit by bit in this blog. My hope is that entrepreneurs in the thick of it will find inspiration here or just reassurance that they are not alone.