Real Entrepreneurs Find Fulfillment from the Journey

“You like football?” he said in a loud, raspy voice, knowing full well that at that point I was hating football, myself and the day I signed that first contract to become a head coach.“Well, do you?” Dave asked again. “You love football? You do, don’t you? You love it! You know you love it!”This exchange is from Jon Gruden’s book Do You Love Football?!: Winning with Heart, Passion, and Not Much Sleep.Gruden is the color analyst on Monday Night Football. He was the youngest head coach ever to win the Super Bowl, which he accomplished with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003.

Knowing in Your Bones

After reading this, I couldn’t stop thinking of all the entrepreneurs I’ve worked with over the years. Super talented, smart, hard-working, dedicated, visionaries, focused and crazy persistent. A few achieved the Super Bowl of startups: an exit. Many of them never got there.But whether or not they got there, they are all still active entrepreneurs. They love it!I thought of my friend Jim Grady who worked as a salesman for me back in the mid-80’s. While working in our startup, he knew in his bones this is what he was created to do. He knew he was built by God to be an entrepreneur.Thirty years and four startups later, he is still at it. He is one of many entrepreneurs who still hasn’t won the startup championship. Yet, he keeps starting companies and is full of enthusiasm. He loves it!

Solving Real-World Problems

His newest startup is solving a big problem and has lots of interest surrounding it. This new company, Package Solutions, aims to solve the nightmare of package receipt for multifamily complexes. Just think of how many packages you receive at your home. What if over 1,000 people lived with you? Here is Jim’s FlashPoint presentation.Jim has executive interest from Silicon Valley and all the major shipping/logistics companies. They are meeting with him. They will find in Jim something I already know. He is relentless at solving a market problem. He will combine his God-given talents of problem-solving, promotion and attracting great people with his knowledge of technology and his ability to create an elegant solution.

Jim’s Big Play

Is this his time? Will this startup get him to the big game? It sure looks that way. But whether or not it does, Jim loves being an entrepreneur.You can be sure he won’t ever give up. He will never stop. He will always pursue his dream of building a company which is bound for success. He loves it!There will be ups and downs. There will be days when the biggest players in the industry endorse him. Then there will be days when no one believes. I’ve seen Jim in every one of these circumstances.Now he’s at it again. He can’t envision himself doing anything else. Jim is an entrepreneur. He loves it. His spirit is contagious! I love it!