Courage is the one thing that all people from all backgrounds have the ability to develop. Courage is not more prevalent in wealthy western societies than in poorer African ones. Courage is not more likely to be imbued in the young than the old. But there is one space that tends to have more courageous people than other communities. That is the space of entrepreneurship. Both the entrepreneurs - and those working in the entrepreneurial organisation - tend to be more courageous than the average corporate employee. Who in their right mind would start a business that has only a 4% chance of succeeding beyond ten years, and who in their right mind would work for such an organisation?

Every entrepreneurial success story has a moment, or moments, of courage - the courage to leave a well-paying job, the courage to enter an unknown market, the courage to work for an unknown crazy man. What saddens me, with some of the companies I am exposed to, is that there is not enough courage. I’m talking about the courage to pick up the phone, to be rejected, to pick it up again and be rejected again. I am confused by the mathematics of it all. People tend to move away from pain and toward pleasure - and is being poor not extremely painful? And picking up a phone, and calling a prospective client, has the strong probability of creating wealth. Then why is it that people CANNOT (in their mind) pick up a phone and make the call? I conclude therefore that being poor is in fact not so bad for these people. I conclude that it is easier to complain about being poor, easier to live poor, than to have the courage to change your future. There is a certain comfort in blaming others for one’s situation in life, it takes the pressure off. It means you do not have to take personal responsibility. Surely you are not that person?