Pick today’s favorite programmer turned successful software or internet entrepreneur and take a look at the books he’s reading. Chances are you’ll find him reading more books from Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell and Guy Kawasaki than books from Martin Fowler, Steve Mcconnell, and Grady Booch.  While the technical excellence and know-how taught by this latter group is fundamental to any successful software venture (or any true software craftsman for that matter), the fact that internet entrepreneurs are reading books like Gladwell’s Outliers, or Godin’s Linchpin implies a few things.  First, by the time they commit to realizing their business vision, the technical mastery promoted by books like Mcconnell’s Code Complete is a given, and not enough to determine success.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. – Einestein

What this also implies, which you can confirm by listening to their presentations or reading their blogs, is the existence of a struggle that sees them continuously aligning with a deeper purpose while amplifying talents in order to transform the lives of their customers.  This struggle is similar to the Hedgehog concept presented in Jim Collin’s book Good to Great and one that marketing has detoured around for the last 20 years.  In this post, Entrepreneurial Spirit, I’ll present the characteristics of this unquenchable struggle that drives these entrepreneurs towards successful software ventures.

Luck of the Italian

We’ve all heard the expression “Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness” and it’s hard not to find a whole lot of this luck in stories like that of a rapidly growing and successful software startup, Balsamiq, and its young founder and CEO, Giacomo ‘Peldi’ Guilizzoni.   I recently had the opportunity to listen to the charismatic and passionate CEO during his presentation at the 2010 Better Software Conference in Florence, Italy.  Throughout the presentation, it struck me that yes, his company has had its fair share of luck, but only because of his remarkable pursuit of preparation and opportunity.

During the presentation, he talked about his persistent desire to start his own software company but also pointed to a phase in his life when he simply wasn’t ready to commit to this venture.  The story goes that in 2004, and with a few years of professional software development experience under his belt at Adobe, he picked up a book from Barry Moltz, You Need to Be a Little Crazy: The Truth about Starting and Growing Your Business, only to put the book down “after 20 pages”, admitting to overwhelming reluctance to absorb the risk needed for such a venture.   If he admitted to a lack of preparation in 2004, what changed by 2007, the year he committed to and officially launched Balsamiq?

Power of Time

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, he talks about the 10,000-hour rule, or the minimum time of practice required for success in any field.   Peldi wasn’t prepared to take the risk to start his venture in 2004, but by 2007,  he not only completed his 10,000 hours of professional practice but had acquired the broader knowledge and skills of an effective leader.  Borrowing the words of the legendery Peter Drucker,  during these three years Peldi dramatically matured his ability to answer the question, “What is the right thing to do?”, he was on his way to becoming the effective executive.

Part-2 to the Entrepreneurial Spirit continues here.