If you are an entrepreneur with a highly ambiguous and complex startup, why would you take two weeks to pick up the phone to a high potential lead referred by one of your investors, cancel proposed call times and disappear? Oh, it’s the “madness of the startup world”! No, it isn’t. It is an entrepreneur, who lacks the routine and exceptional discipline to succeed, and is simply interested in “taking” investor’s money.

Here is the rub, the worst offenders are not the wunderkids. They are the former corporate executives, bankers and strategy consultants, whose mindset and behaviour is “trapped” in their past occupation.

Critical evaluation starts with our own actual behaviour, not what we tell others or think is happening.

Tags: discipline, focus, investors, organisation, priorities, referrals, speed