Hacking the parallel journeys of a first-time entrepreneur

Every entrepreneur goes through an external journey while building his or her startup -- it is the quest to find the product-market fit.

In the words of Marc Andreessen, “Product-market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy the market.”

You can read more about Andreessen’s brilliant article on LinkedIn on the same topic here.

Every first-time entrepreneur also goes through a parallel internal journey -- it is his or her own quest to find entrepreneur-market fit.

It is their journey to be extremely comfortable in the role of being an entrepreneur in the market they have chosen to operate.

For a first-time entrepreneur, this is a tour of duty where the mission is to go from ‘wantrepreneur’ to an ‘entrepreneur.’

The Journeys in parallel makes it complex

What makes it really complicated is that the two journeys -- external journey of finding the product-market fit and the internal journey to find the entrepreneur-market fit makes it extremely complex.

They have to battle with the unknowns in the external world -- product readiness, market acceptance, competition, funding and the list goes on.

Next, they have to battle with the unknowns in the internal world -- support from their loved ones, self-esteem shift as their confidence to execute wavers, self-belief, ability to deal with failures etc.

The entrepreneur-market fit is solely determined by the market in it’s acceptance of a person as an entrepreneur rather than the wishful thinking of an entrepreneur where he or she assumes that the market has accepted him or her.

The four scenarios

There are so many scenarios to consider, but I have picked four to highlight what can happen.

1. Leader

In this scenario, the entrepreneur-market fit happens slightly before the product-market fit. The market has accepted the person as an entrepreneur and he or she comes across as instrumental in brining the product-market fit with the help of the team.

This is a scenario where the founder enjoys a leadership position and continues to lead the company well beyond the formative stages.

1. Partner

In this scenario, the product-market fit happens before the entrepreneur-market fit and the founder is yet to get his or her bearings on the entrepreneur-market fit. This is a classic situation where potential investors will see this and move the founder out of a leadership position as quickly as possible. In their view, the opportunity is great, but not at the hands of the founder.

1. Adventurer

In this scenario, the founder gets the entrepreneur-market fit quite late and with a lot of support from his loved ones. There is, unfortunately, no sign of seeing a product-market fit in the near future. The founder subscribers to the ‘never give up’ philosophy and continues chugging along without good help on his side. This is what I call an ‘Adventurer’. Sadly, in some cases, the loved ones give up on him thus making a personal life a mess while he or she portrays a bold face outside. If the founder persists further and succeeds, this journey will shape the test of his or her life.

1. Repeater

This is where the product-market fit happens after a long period of time but the founder is still in the quest for the entrepreneur-market fit. There is not much happening as he or she is battling internally trying to recover from the long journey to see a ray of hope. In general, the founder gives up along the way mostly before the product-market fit event. For a passionate founder, this is a ‘hiatus from’ and not a breakup with his or her entrepreneurial dream. The founder who comes back after the break is a repeater and is much more equipped and determined.

How can you use this knowledge?

If you are a first-time founder, first step is to be aware of what is happening and face the reality in the two parallel journeys that you need to undertake.

Hard work is a given, but as you can see good help is golden in these situations.

Last but not the least, luck plays an important role too. If you get lucky, acknowledge it, count your blessings, celebrate and offer good help to other founders in need.