I frequently see VT KnowledgeWorks entrepreneur-in-residence Doug Juanarena at The Weight Club where I go to think, keep fit enough to tolerate the strenuousness of being a company founder, and fight a back injury. At The Weight Club, the primary form of communication is the silent nod, but occasionally Doug and I speak about biz and I have his permission to share this anecdote.
Doug was lying on a weight bench and I was using one of the pulley weights, we were both between sets, and I was asking him about how he tolerates risk. He mimed waking up in a cold sweat from a nightmare, doing a partial sit-up, arms stretched high, hands holding the sides of his head.
“It’s all going down!” he moaned.
Then he shrugged. “It’s part of the process,” he said, and returned to doing bench presses.
Doug’s acknowledgement of the personal cost of taking risk has fortified me innumerable times as I take risk after risk as a start-up. Sometimes I do the Doug Juanarena Risk Sit-Up, head in hands, with full sound effects.
“It’s all going down!” I moan.
Usually I laugh. Thanks to Doug, I definitely feel less alone.
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VT KnowledgeWorks is a unique growth enhancement program open to entrepreneurs in the New River Valley of Virginia and beyond. Acceleration center and incubation facilities are located in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia.
VT KnowledgeWorks sponsors include Attaain, Inc., BB&T, Handshake 2.0, Harris Office Furniture, Hodges, Jones & Mabry, P.C., Latimer, Mayberry & Matthews IP Law, LeClairRyan, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and The Becher Agency (TBA).
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