Starting a business is nothing short of an ultra marathon times 365.  If you ask people why they do it, you'll get a wide variety of answers.  Some people might say "the money" but behind most any answer you will receive is an iceberg underneath (90% of an iceberg is under the water).  Others will say they are simply crazy.  The true reason is very complex.  It's not usually one reason, but passion, drive and hunger are key components to one's success.

If you like challenges, you'll have plenty.  I view the startup world like a 6 dimensional puzzle.  Move one piece and 6 others (or 1,600,000) move with the piece you moved.  Time is one of the dimensions.  Sometimes you see results quickly and other times results take years.  Sometimes you have a "feeling" something is going to work and other times you'll have empirical data.

I always tell people that if you work your ass off for 20 years straight, you'll wake up an overnight success one day!

So what are you going to do?  Keep dreaming or make your dream a reality?  Do you have a mentor that you can turn to?  1 or 100 mentors?  Friends and family are leaders in self deception...i.e. do you have someone who will give you the real answer?  The shredded wheat answer?  Have you asked a customer for money?  That's usually the best indication of whether you have something real or not.

I started my first business when I was in high school.  Sure, lawn mowing was a business, but I started developing software (i.e. games) and got my 10,000 hours of programming in before I started college.  I sold my games to the manufacturer of my computer when I was in college.  That was exciting!  My passion, drive and hunger continues.

I taught a class called New Venture Creation at the University of Denver.  It was a 4 credit course.  Since college credits cost about $1000 per credit hour (or more), that's $4000 per student.  I brought 20+ mentors (successful business people) into my classroom every quarter.

As a mentor and director in an organization like Founders Institute, along with 30-50 other mentors, we coached a number of amazing people into successful businesses.  I absolutely believe FI is one of the best investments into your future.  You can expect mentors, education and growth through the process.