A short YouTube monologue by Mike Andes contrasting two entrepreneurial mindsets: playing to win (taking risks to achieve significant success) versus playing to not lose (merely surviving with minimal profit). Andes argues he prefers risking failure for a chance at large success rather than small, incremental survival above zero revenue.
Entrepreneurship is a game of trying to acquire success or higher levels of earning or status. I would say, do you want to win or do you want to not lose? Those are two different things. And so I actually would say, yeah, there's a lot of ways to win. But if my only game is survival and I make no impact, I don't hit my goals, don't hit my targets. But I stayed in business because I made $100, that seems pretty fruitless. If losing is no money and winning is just being one degree above zero, dollars does not make me successful in my opinion. It just means I stayed alive. It means you survive. Yeah. So it's like, do you not want to lose or do you want to win? I would rather strike out a couple times, swinging for the big fence and actually going for it. Yeah. And yes, I will lose and I will not make money and something or I'll fail at something. I would rather have the 30% chance of hitting it really big than just surviving and getting a degree above zero and therefore, quote, unquote, staying in business.
