SBSS Week 1: Entrepreneurs Need Passion

I'm helping facilitate the first FastTrac TechVenture program in North Florida, called Success Breeds Success Series (SBSS). It's an intensive 8-week bootcamp for entrepreneurs, including "secrets of success" from most of the top entrepreneurs in the area.

We have a fantastic group participating and our first week focused on the Characteristics of Entrepreneurs. Jamie Grooms, founder of Regeneration Technologies and AxoGen, was the speaker and we spent considerable time discussing the key traits of entrepreneurs. It was a wide-ranging discussion that I won't attempt to summarize here; however, there was one takeaway that was a mild surprise to me.

I'm a terribly passionate person and that has an impact on the type of people I back -- I'm drawn to others whose passion shows in their efforts and dedication to their companies. However, at SBSS I expected to hear diverse views on whether passion was a defining trait of entrepreneurs -- maybe from tech-heavy founders. Boy was I wrong.

Everyone felt passion was a defining trait of successful entrepreneurs. A commitment to do whatever it takes is critical to fight through all the inevitable "no's" heard when building a business. I believe this also shows itself in creativity -- passion makes an entrepreneur think of new ways to create success.

Are you ready to run through walls for your idea? If not, maybe it's not the right idea or the right time for you -- or you need to find co-founders with that core. The road to entrepreneurial success contains plenty of walls, will you stop or keep running?