This may come as a shock to you, but I sometimes have a bit of an ego problem. Yes, yes, I know. Hard to believe the guy who likes to hear himself talk so much he puts it into written word and blasts it off to the interwebs on a weekly basis has an ego problem.
Point is, I think I am awesome.
And I think that this is generally a good thing. But sometimes it is a bad thing.
Following?
I have a lot of self-confidence. I truly believe that I can achieve anything I set my mind to. I am someone that likes to throw himself head first into whatever roadblocks or hurdles life puts in my way. I am a big believer in the idea that if you don’t like something that is going on in your life, stop making excuses for it and take the necessary steps to change it.
I think this confidence is good. But sometimes it’s bad.
Sometimes I can get a little bit ahead of my skiis and fall down too much on the side of “better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” This approach works well in some settings, and significantly less so in others. One of my biggest weaknesses, my tendency to de-value the accomplishments of others, stems directly from this overconfidence and the related insecurities it can cause.
Another way that this confidence can sometimes manifest itself is through eagerness to take on more. I am supremely confident in my ability to upskill and do what I need to take on more and more, but sometimes this can be at odds with my choice of career.
Venture capital is not a fire-from-the-hip industry. Or at least, I believe that it is not when done well.
VC is an apprenticeship industry. It takes time to learn the craft. Sometimes that is hard for me to remember. I want to do more and take on more responsibility and have opinions on every company and every sector. But I have been doing this for less than a year. And I have a lot still to learn.
This week I got a reminder of that after hearing more experienced investors than myself talk about board governance. What a huge responsibility it is and all the perils that responsibility entails if its gravity is not appreciated.
After hearing about their trials and tribulations on various boards throughout their career, it really struck me how much more I have to learn.
I am so excited to be in this industry.
I love working with entrepreneurs and helping them build great companies.
But it is important to keep in mind that I don’t know everything. That this industry is a craft and like all crafts it requires reps and experience before you can become a master. Rome was not built with enthusiasm alone.
I write this post not because I am discouraged. Quite the opposite actually.
When I think about how relatively inexperienced I am and how much I still have to learn, I am not demoralized.
I am not daunted.
I am not intimidated or frustrated.
Instead, I am excited to get back to work and keep learning. To keep beating on my craft.
I think that is a pretty good sign.