June 16, 2017

215: What Role Does Luck Play in Startups?

In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about luck. Did that CEO experience huge growth just because he was lucky? Or did they tank because they were unlucky? The question of luck or a lack thereof is dependent on the belief and attitude of the individual. Steli was asked directly whether luck played a role or not in the success of one’s startup. Steli and Hiten share their two cents on the topic of luck and express why we need to foster an attitude of gratitude.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

00:04 – Today’s episode is about luck

00:33 – Steli was asked what role luck plays in a startup’s success

01:27 – Luck is defined as “success or failure apparently brought about by chance rather than through one’s own actions”

02:02 – Hiten says that a person’s belief about luck depends on the person himself, but we should not think that we are unlucky

02:34 – Hiten says luck can be considered the same as hope

03:03 – Steli does not think about luck, but feels gratitude and appreciation play a bigger role

04:01 – Steli has always believed that people are responsible for everything that is happening to them

05:23 – Hiten says the belief that luck played a role in the success of your business depends on your attitude

06:31 – Gambling is about chance rather than luck

06:53 – Steli and Hiten both lost a parent and this could mean they are unlucky—but they don’t think they are unlucky

07:10 – Hiten believes everything happens for a reason and to think about luck means forgetting about the reason

07:32 – If you know WHY something happened, then it is not because of luck or a lack thereof; in this case, your attitude towards an event is important in determining what you will do about it

08:13 – People consider luck to be part of the equation because they feel someone succeeded at something and it was undeserved

08:28 – Steli knows a co-founder of a big startup with whom he was not very impressed; he thought that the guy ‘just got lucky’

09:38 – Steli realized that he did not know much about how the company grew and the role that guy played in those early years

10:15 – Attributing someone’s success to luck is based on a lack of information about someone and it is lazy to think this way

11:28 – It is better to calculate why we consider a person lucky

11:56 – Hiten says we don’t really know the causes of what happens to us in life and that is why the word luck exists

12:33 – Life is complex when it comes to understanding causation, but business should not be that complicated

13:01 – Steli says luck should be taken out of everyone’s vocabulary and we should have an attitude of gratitude instead

13:35 – End of today’s episode

3 Key Points:

A belief in luck depends on a person’s attitude.

Gratitude for all that we’ve received and experienced and should take more weight than attributing what we have to luck.

Take “luck” out of your vocabulary and consider why we consider ourselves and others so lucky.

Steli Efti:

Hey, everyone. This is Steli Efti.

Hiten Shah:

And this is Hiten Shah and on today's episode of the Startup Chat we're going to talk about luck and Steli's going to start because he's the one that inspired this thing. I got a lot to say on my side. I can't wait.

Steli Efti:

Here's the deal. Somebody asked me, "What role does luck play in startup success?" That question was not that difficult for me. I was like, "I think it does play a role. How much is so difficult to say. How you define luck and the context around what you view as luck versus what you view as just opportunity that you were prepared for. It's very individual way of how you and I interpret events in life and yada, yada, yada." Eventually I was like, "You know, I do think it plays a role there.

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By Steli Efti & Hiten Shah: Serial Entrepreneurs, Sales & Marketing Experts, Startup Investors & Advisors, CEOs running multi million dollar SaaS Startups

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