Yesterday I was reminded of an important lesson for success in business and probably in life. I was on a call with a good entrepreneur and probably the best venture capital lawyer in South Florida. We were discussing a term sheet from a VC and negotiating strategy. Usually these calls are pretty boring for me with the entrepreneur bitching about valuation or completely dumbfounded by the complexity of the terms and the attorney promising more than he can deliver because he does a venture capital deal about once in a lifetime.
Yesterday's call was anything but boring and the lawyer really knows his specialty--venture capital. At one point in the call it was necessary to clarify who the lawyer represented--the board of directors, the company, the entrepreneur or the shareholders.Think about what your answer would have been. I bet you answer incorrectly.
The lawyer answered correctly that he represented the company and the shareholders, but what surprised me was the passion in his voice when he answered. Here was an intelligent, well educated and very experienced attorney who is still passionate about representing his clients. I have dealt with many intelligent and experienced attorneys but what makes this attorney the best in his specialty is his passion.
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines passion as " an intense, driving or overmastering feeling or conviction". In other words passion is more than being driven or committed and requires an emotional engagement with the issue or objective. I see many entrepreneurs who are driven and committed but what the lawyer reminded me of was the importance of passion. The passion is what produces the excellence.
Why does passion produce excellence--because, in large part, it transcends self-interest. Self-interest is a big limiting factor for entrepreneurs. Worries about valuation, compensation, image etc.all take time away from the goal--building a great business.Why do special operations teams excel in military operations? Commitment to team and mission, both of which require emotional engagement to achieve excellence.
If you can not tell the difference between passion and being driven, you will never build a great company. If you can not transcend self-interest and achieve passion, you should probably give up your dream of building a great company.
