Entrepreneurship has stopped feeling like a race or even a marathon to me ever since I naturally stepped out of the running track had gone past my finish line—a line that I drew too far for a 20-year-old me but a line that feels to have been drawn too close for a 24-year-old me.
Now that I’ve completed my race, I get invited to other stadiums where I watch other Nepalese entrepreneurs run their own races in their own respective running tracks. Some of these entrepreneurs have already figured out where their actual finish line is and the pace they need to maintain to reach there, some have just started running and some don’t even want to think about the end.
One thing is common among the 50+ entrepreneurs I’ve met in the last 3 months alone: everyone is dying to catch their breath yet no one is able to slow down even if they are willing to. I can understand why. The potential fruit of their labor carries more value to them than the blood, sweat, and tears they lose during the run.
However, from the sidelines, I’ve also met other people watching these entrepreneurs closely. People who were also invited to the stadium like me but who have never ran a race of their own. They are there to gamble their money on the entrepreneur and cheer for them to show their support.
Everything is good as long as Nepalese entrepreneurs understand that not everyone cheering for them from the sidelines is a coach. In actuality, the coach is usually the one who is silent while everyone cheers for you.