During university I spent a few years living in an eight bedroom house in downtown Guelph. Every year we’d host a Disco Inferno party complete with what you’d expect, costumes, kegs, music and all associated mayhem. We’d sell tickets and typically sell out months in advance. I’m assuming we hosted a decent party.

Every year when we’d start selling tickets, people would offer to contribute to the party. We were offered bands, sponsors, larger venues etc. We were offered some tasty party favours.

What’s this have to do with anything? Given some measure of success with your project or startup, you will attract a crowd. That crowd will want to be involved. You’ll meet some great folks who are interested in seeing your project flourish. You’ll meet some folks who are only interested in riding your coattails. Success and commitment are huge magnets.

In all cases, you cannot let external forces drive your project. You have to stay focused. Decisions and actions have to be explicit and justifiable. Don’t hire people because they offer to work for you. Don’t accept investment because people offer you cheques. Don’t take on mentors and advisors because they offer you help. Building successful businesses isn’t an additive, the more the merrier process. It’s about focus and making difficult decisions. It’s often more about what you choose not to do rather than what you choose to do. Stick to your path, don’t let the noise of success distract you from what got you there.

(PS. These are problems I dream of having someday!)

This entry was posted on Friday, November 18th, 2011 at 2:57 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.