Feras Alhlou reflects on why entrepreneurial fear never goes away, even after starting multiple ventures. He argues courage isn't the absence of fear but confronting it anyway, and describes the persistent uncertainty of deciding where to put resources and energy.
Hey, Feras, have you ever felt secure with starting a business, or was there always that fear of insecurity? That feeling of insecurity, that feeling of concern or fear of having to deal with ambiguities and the unknowns, it never leaves an entrepreneur. I think what successful entrepreneurs end up mastering is the ability to face fear in the face. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is seeing the fear and being able to deal with it and confronting that fear. And the same thing in business. So even after my 7th venture now, I'm still concerned about, oh my God, are we going to make it? Are we going to make it big? Are we going to— are we putting the right resources on the right projects? Are we overspending? Are we underspending? So these emotions, these feelings never leave us, but you want to be able to deal with them and confront them one step at a time.
