Entrepreneur

You are 35. You aren’t dead. Keep going. Find a way to make money for your monthly expenses and work at whatever you want to work at.

im gunna leave this quote for you brother. its a quote from thedore roosevelt. ive been an entrepreneur for about 10 years and ive failed many times and i always go back to this quote when i need it.

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“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

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keep fighting. and if you need to get a job to make ends meet in the meantime then so be it. making ends meet while you work on your dream isnt quitting. youre doing what you need to do to make the dream work and thats fucking awesome. keep up the good fight.

Kids today. Pfft.

I started entrepreneurship at 36 and didn’t fail the first time until almost 40! Lost so much of my family’s savings too.

You had your first start to end experience already. You’re ahead of me! Next time you’ll probably get a bit further because you’ve learned.

You just have to keep trying. The crazy thing is that when you do succeed, they're not going to be happy for you. Instead, they're going to get angry. People are fucked.

I worked for a bank op and the one consistent thing I saw was people who a business have 10 businesses 1 of them makes it big 2 float and the other 7 die.

Time to double down and make 9 other businesses.

Why do you care

Technically you didn't fail. You quit. No humiliation in that.

Use their comments as fuel to succeed and prove them wrong.

"Show me a person who has never failed and I will show you a failure of a person."

Its the journey not the destination.

You tell it as a funny story when you succeed at 36, you got this

Why do you care about what other people say?

Why say that you failed tho? A lot of entrepreneurs only find their their feet when they’re older than that… Les brown only found the right business in his 60s. You should learn from it and build on it.

Failure is how we learn but we start again and don’t give up. I’m 36 and in my 2nd year on my 3rd business, had to start it out of desperation of not having income and now it’s growing rapidly.

You’re an entrepreneur. You don’t - can’t! - care what anytime else thinks. Just do what you need to do to provide what you must and then the rest is up to you

Cut them off. You'll feel better

"I'm sorry I can't be like the rest of you perfect people who have never made a mistake. Would you like to march me into the mouth of the volcano right now?"

What do you mean failed? You’re only 35….you only fail if you give up.

What do you mean by humiliation?

They may genuinely be worried about your future and ability to provide for yourself. If you are always chasing dreams, not able to sustain yourself, rely on family for financial means, then yeah, you're doing something wrong. I'm not saying this is your case, but I haven't seen any comment suggesting that you have savings left or are in a stable situation.

They probably would prefer for you to succeed, but they may have also seen that you had flaws in your ideas. Building a 2 sided marketplace is usually very difficult, and I still don't understand what your value proposition was, or what made you believe you had any expertise in it at all.

I'll tell you one thing. My business supports my whole family. It pays our mortgage, it feeds us, puts our child in school. If it started failing, I would feel no shame in getting a job. My identity is not wrapped up in being an entrepreneur, and I don't think that's a healthy mindset for most people.

My identity is wrapped around being a problem solver, finding solutions that provide value, and being compensated for it. I don't quite care what form that takes. I have many friends that have regular jobs, that are very good at them, that make great income, and guess what? They're super happy, and have very fulfilling lives.

Try again, get rich, don't share anything with them, actively tell them "I told you so" on a regular basis.

Are they humiliating you or are you afraid of being humiliated.

There is a big difference

Nothing sit proud, don’t drink or abuse anything, confide in ur friends or someone super close

Not such thing as a failed entrepreneur unless you give up. Struggling, sure, but failed only happens when you quit or die. If you need some inspiration, go the read the arena quote by Teddy Roosevelt.

"...who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Being an entrepreneur is special, most people can't do it and anyone that tries to humiliate you for your effort is a low cowardly little turd.

This is what makes a true entrepreneur. Facing humiliation, rejection, failure but ignoring all that and moving on.

Being an entrepreneur is like being an artist, musician, comedian etc. Everyone thinks you suck until you actually have success. Fuck em, try again, win.

there's no such thing as failed entrepreneurs. Maybe failed businesses and failed ideas.

That means you find another way.

My family is on my ass about the same thing but I will not give up.

Anyone shaming you didn’t have the balls to try to live their dreams.

Life itself consists of failing again and again. Just because you've failed doesn't mean you're a failure.

Not everyone succeeds. Even less try. Never feel humiliated for trying

can u define "failed" ?

Do an aquarium business, or a fabric spray business, or trade NFTs with your wife 🤷🏾. I got a buddy in the exact same situation. Just keep going ✊🏾

I started my own business at age 25. Grew it to having 4 employees, sizable warehouse etc.. 6 years later it failed. Crashed post -covid never recovered.

Failing in businesses is not something to be humiliated by. The experience you gained is very unique and you likely don't even know what you have learned until you find a full time position back in an office working for someone else. You will be thankful you tried.

I usually cut them off for awhile while I rebuild my wealth and ego

You keep going. You prove them wrong.

At 32 I had multiple failed businesses and we had just declared bankruptcy. It was a low point in my life. I got a job to put food on the table, but I knew I would never be happy working for someone else.

So I started another online business on the side. I worked on it any spare moment I got. Within a year my was business was making 2x more than my job. I quit the job and never looked back. Within 2 years I grew it to million dollar business.

Never give up.

This is oddly specific...

No description no effort in the post no wonder you failed

You ignore it.

I had some success before.. And at 35 had a resounding failure (like lost $1m of OPM failure).

It was a tough pill to swallow, people I know invested in me and I lost everything they invested.

But you do what is necessary to close out the company and move forward and ignore the haters.

If you dwell on it, and listen to the people throwing shade to keep you down… You will stay down.

But if you look forward with the eyes of an entrepreneur, you will find your next venture.

I’m 39 now, I own 1 successful company and am building another (vertical integration with my current one) because I focused on looking for opportunities and didn’t focus on those who wanted to tear me down.

It’s not easy, but it is necessary.

Get a job loser you’re not an entrepreneur

You feel being under attack which triggers many different negative emotions.

Maybe read "Never Split the Difference" and learn how to have difficult conversations with just about anyone - without triggering anybody's emotions.

What's interesting about family is that you'll usually find all the "personality types" represented by one or more siblings or relatives. And the "black sheep" may be tarred and feathered.

Google "analytical driver expressive amiable" and dig a litter deeper on the better sites. To better connect, engage, and build trust with the other personality types,it helps to tone down the criteria that conflict and turn up the volume on the criteria that align.

If you take the time reflect on the many unpleasant conversations you've had with family members, what are the actual reasons for shaming (pressured into complying) you?

Can you share their EXACT words. We all interpret words our way. Sometimes meaning and intent get lost in the heated exchanges.

Do you know what is the "desired outcome/goal?" Compliance with some family norm or standard? Cutting you off from some shared family assets? Something else?

When people put that much energy in an activity, there has to be a purpose.

Step 1 is to make sure that YOU and them are on the same page understanding what's going on.

And what has the family ambassador have to say?

become a successful entrepreneur at 37

Focus on your personal growth and learning from the experience rather than dwelling on the opinions of others. Use the setback as a stepping stone for future success, and surround yourself with supportive individuals who understand that failure is a part of the entrepreneurial journey. Remember, your worth is not defined by one venture, and resilience is key to overcoming challenges.

Is it really failure, when you had the courage to think "What if ?" while others stayed in line with the same beliefs they had 10 years ago ?

Be proud of what you've done, because it doesn't stop there. Life continue and you're probably already ahead of them.

The only way to win that game is not to play. Don't engage in the topic, and don't be afraid to forcefully change the subject if they try to push the topic

Why did you fail? Its impossible to fail if you genuinely work hard. Did you not work hard enough?

Making it sound like 35 is old. It’s just the beginning!