Three F's Of Success

David Hornik writes in Fanaticism Is The Secret Weapon:

In the immortal words of Monty Python, "Amongst [the Spanish Inquisition's] weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms." Truthfully, not a bad formula for startup success. Ok, maybe not devotion to the Pope, per se, but fanatical devotion to your company. That brand of single-mindedness has long been the linchpin of success for entrepreneurs. (As an aside, the business about the nice red uniforms reminds me of a recent lunch I had at Google. My host giddily noted that it would be impossible at this point to collect all the Google shirts that have been printed. While I savor the sort of camaraderie that ubiquitous company swag can promote, I'm afraid it felt a little 1999.)

While the term fanatic is pejorative in many circles, I love fanatics. Fanatics make first class entrepreneurs. As long as I have been working with startups, I have seen the power of fanaticism in action. Entrepreneurs who go to sleep thinking about their companies, wake up thinking about their companies, and often times dream about their companies in the hours in between, are the ones who do everything it takes for their startups to succeed.

It takes a certain kind of fanaticism to win. You must be fanatical about that which your company does, not just about making money. Great entrepreneurs believe that they are changing the world for the better... When I invest, I look for the fanatics. They're the ones who can't imagine doing anything but the thing they're doing. They don't just see the pain in the market, they feel it.

All my life I've been fanatical; I became entrepreneurial once I had something to be fanatical about. In my opinion, there are three key ingredients to succeeding as an entrepreneur:

1. Showing up
2. Following through (after filtering for the most important things to focus on)
3. Being passionate (which in the above VentureBlog post is spelled "fanaticism" :)

I scramble those qualities to invent "Rifkin's Three F's Of Success":

Fanaticism, Focus, and Follow-through.

And it goes without saying to make sure that you show up. *wink*

(One more aside: why do startups fail? In Bob Cringely's opinion, high-tech startups fail for only three reasons: stupidity, luck, and greed. Says Cringely: "Tip one for would-be entrepreneurs: Avoid stupid and unlucky people. If you are stupid or have bad luck, don't start a high-tech business." :)