Co-Founder AI

## Qualities of a Successful Entrepreneur – Persistence (1/11)

One of the questions I’m constantly asked as a venture capitalist is, “What do you focus on when making an investment?” I’ve publicly stated that 70% of the investment decision is based on the team, especially the founders. I’ve seen individuals who attended the best educational institutions, earned top grades, and worked at seemingly perfect companies, yet still fail.

So, what skills are necessary to become a successful entrepreneur? What qualities do I look for during the process? Having walked in the shoes of an entrepreneur twice, I’ve compiled a list of essential skills. This post is dedicated to the first of ten qualities I intend to discuss.

# Persistence

Persistence is arguably the most critical entrepreneurial quality. It’s the trait of someone who never gives up, never accepts “no” for an answer. The world is full of skeptical individuals who claim something can’t be done, and then, when it happens, they say, “I knew it wouldn’t work.” Look at Google. Do you think anyone seriously believed in 1999 that two young Stanford graduates could overtake Yahoo!, Excite, Ask Jeeves, and Lycos? Of course they did. Believe me, no matter what you come up with, most venture capitalists will tell you something like, “Social networks already exist,” “You’ll never close a deal with a telecom operator,” or “Google already has a product in this space.” The people you plan to hire will say they’re unsure about joining your team, landlords will demand a year’s rent upfront, and potential business partners will be too busy to work with you: “Come back in six months.”

If you already have a functioning startup, you know this. But some founders possess an additional quality that keeps them from ever giving up. Sometimes, it even borders on audacity. I observe this heightened level of persistence in only one out of ten entrepreneurs I encounter. If you’re not one of them, you probably know what it means. Your partner pushes things further than you would. What do you gain by stepping out of your comfort zone and showing more persistence? It’s truly what separates the wheat from the chaff.

# A Simple Example

When I launched my second company, I was a newcomer to Silicon Valley. I had spent the previous 11 years in Europe and Japan. My company was relatively unknown. We were launching a cloud-based document management system in what became known as Enterprise 2.0. It happened that a conference was about to take place, organized by a man named Ismael Galimi. He was a highly respected manager in the software industry and was also blogging for companies in this space at the time.

It was his first conference, and prominent venture capitalists from Silicon Valley were set to attend. The press and various high-ranking executives from companies in this sector were also present. I asked my friends from Lewis PR to introduce me to Ismael, who invited me to speak at the conference. He sent me a schedule indicating that I was to speak on the second day during an afternoon session in a small room. What a hassle.

I wrote to Ismael, requesting to speak on the first day and have a spot on stage during the plenary session alongside Om Malik, Shel Israel, Rajen Sheth (from Google), Karen Leavitt (WebEx), and Ismael himself. He replied that it wasn’t possible. I wrote to him again, assuring him of my sincere intentions, and asked once more. Being a very courteous person, he politely declined. I had a friend write to him, mentioning how well I perform at such events. I called Ismael and listed numerous reasons why I would be a perfect fit for the situation. He said he would think about it, but there were already plenty of people on stage. “Yes, but there’s not a single startup represented on stage. I think having someone like me would balance things out better.”

I requested a breakfast meeting to discuss this. I knew he didn’t genuinely want to see me on stage, but I understood how crucial it was for people to know about me. I pushed the boundaries without crossing the line. Eventually, he relented, and that was a very important session for me in initially informing people about the Koral project. The photo above was taken at that event (photographer Dan Farber, writing for ZDNet). In the end, Ismael and I became good friends, and I miss him ever since I moved to Los Angeles.

Those who know me well have an idea that this is just an ordinary day in the life of Mark Saster. Not everything always goes well, but it’s part of my DNA. I can’t help it. And it’s one of the qualities I look for in entrepreneurs. Some companies exert insufficient effort. Others overstep boundaries. I’d love to offer you a formula for the necessary amount of assertiveness, but as I’ve always said, it’s an art in itself—once you see it, you recognize it immediately.

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