The life cycle of a business and your role within it - Creation

The cost of creation - Sacrifice, Capital, and Commitment

What You're Really Signing Up For When You Decide to Build Something Real

The Unseen & Unknown Price Tag

Everyone sees the finish line in all its glory, but few have the vision or experience to see the race unfold in its entirety.
Most people want the rewards of entrepreneurship: freedom, wealth, status, power and recognition.
Fewer are ready for the cost.

Not the financial cost (though that’s very real).
The cost of time. Of isolation. Of carrying the weight of uncertainty while trying to convince others that your vision is worth believing in.

“Entrepreneurship is like eating glass and staring into the abyss.” — Elon Musk

I could not have said it better myself. Its painful. The uncertainty it brings to your life is cruel and crushing and the very reason most opt for the comfort and security of a regular 9- 5.

The second phase of a business's life cycle is not glamorous.

It is about sacrifice. What are you willing to risk to go from idea to entity? To make things happen, you have to make things. But to make things, you have to give something.

Creation Requires Collapse

To create a business, something(s) must die or suffer.

• Free time.

• Stability.

• Ego.

• Relationships.

• Commitments.

• Resources.

But in making these sacrifices you are rewarded, though it may not initially feel like it. What rises in its place is not comfort, but capacity.
You are tested, reshaped, stretched and from this, you gain growth. The beauty of this process - having lived through it several times over - is that whether you fail or succeed, the growth is guaranteed the moment you step outside your comfort zone, start to learn new things and start building.

In this stage, you learn:

You cannot build anything big without the willingness to out-live discomfort.

The Real Meaning of “Skin in the Game”

The first time I heard the phrase “skin in the game,” it tickled me. There was always something sexual and erotic about the phrase. Probably the word “skin” and the fact that no man ever truly outgrows his childish persona.

Philosopher Nassim Nicholas Taleb defines “skin in the game” as the willingness to share in the risk and consequences of what you build.

If you think about it, its a bit like having a baby and how does one have a baby? With Skin in the Game! I digress and please do excuse me…

In business, this means:

• Investing your own capital

• Firing the wrong people

• Standing behind your product or service, publicly

You cannot outsource belief: If you won't bet on yourself, why should anyone else?

Capital Is More Than Money

You’ll need capital — yes.
But money is only one form. You’ll also need:

• Emotional capital (to endure rejection)

• Social capital (to build trust and goodwill)

• Creative capital (to solve problems in real-time)

  And perhaps most importantly:

• Time capital — the energy you don’t spend elsewhere so you can show up fully for your venture.

The Silent Sacrifices No One Talks About

• Missing important personal events

• Working 24 hours a day, 365 days

• Having to learn and work every role because someone has to do it

• Being misunderstood by family, friends or peers.

• The mental toll of always thinking about the business

• The loneliness of leadership

These aren’t signs of failure.
They are signs that you’re doing something most people are too afraid to try.

We are wired as a species to mistrust what we do not understand and what we can not see. The conflict within. Visionaries are lunatics until their visions come to pass and then they become geniuses often and sadly posthumously.

Is It Worth It?

That is the Wrong Question

A better question:

Is this something you’re willing to suffer for?

Because no matter how good the strategy, you will suffer.
And that suffering only becomes meaningful if it's tied to something you truly believe in.

If you are willing to suffer for it, it must be worth it, right?

Because only you can answer that question.

Reflection Prompt

What are you willing to give up to see your vision come to life?
What do you refuse to sacrifice — and can your business honour that boundary?

References & Resources

• Taleb, N.N. Skin in the Game

• Musk, E. (multiple interviews)

• Holiday, R. The Obstacle Is the Way

• Pressfield, S. Turning Pro

Next in the Series:
Blog 3: The Architecture of Execution – Structure, Systems, and Strategy
Why your idea needs a skeleton—and how to build it before it breaks you.