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Entrepreneur Mindset: Lottery Players and Startup Unicorns

Startup Unicorns From The Startup Garage

4 MindSet Similarities Between Startup Unicorns and Lottery Players

As of March 17, 2016 CB Insights’s real time unicorn tracker, lists that 155 Startup Companies are valued at $1 billion or more with a total cumulative valuation of $550billion. 
A steady increase of 111 new companies since February 2014.

Although, the exclusive startup unicorn club appears to be more obtainable than previous years, the chances of winning big, like the lottery are few and far between.

In fact, the number looks to be just above 1% of all Startup companies, will obtain a billion dollar valuation.

The questions then become, has the media surrounding $billion valuations and the public hype of startup founders personal wealth and company culture, created a false hope for entrepreneurs?

Perhaps over sensationalized stories serve the same purpose as the MegaMillions billboards displaying the jackpot size, driving more players to enter the game, and encouraging people to start companies for the lure of being Megarich?

In Jan of 2016 a record breaking $1.6B Powerball jackpot, brought the North American lottery to new heights, unleashing a new breed of fortune hunters. I witnessed successful startup founders scramble to buy in, who never before considered playing the lottery.

A million dollar winning is no longer is enough, however the lure of a billion dollars cash out is the new Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket for Startup founders and Lottery Players.

The Entrepreneur Mindset and Lottery Players Mindset

Risk-Takers

“Millennials don’t buy lottery tickets, they launch startups.”
A lotto player buys in for the mental reward of a chance of being rich.
A startup founder spends hundreds of dollars every week for the same reward: a very small chance of being rich, in order to be in charge of their own destiny.

Both Entrepreneurs and Lottery Players are natural risk-takers, 43% of entrepreneurs (compared to 34% of non-entrepreneurs) believe that risks must be taken in order to be successful. Risk-taking is almost synonymous with entrepreneurship, in order to start and support your own business, you’ll have to put your career, personal finances and even your mental health at stake.

However, with great risk comes great reward, even with the odds stacked against you.
Did you know, the odds of matching every lottery number are 1 in 175,223,510, according to Powerball.com. Are those good odds? A person has better odds of playing in the NBA (1 in 6,864,000), being a movie star (1 in 1,505,000) or becoming the president of the United States (1 in 10,000,000).

Persistent

By definition, persistence is the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people.
True winners never gives up, “you gotta be in it to, win it,” strikes a cord for both entrepreneurs an lottery players.

Success takes thick skin, in order to crush the odds you can’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of reaching your goals.

Hopeful

Entrepreneurs and lottery winners, must fully committed to finding a way to beating the odds.
Both play the narrative of the “Hero’s Journey” with follows a basic pattern of stepping outside the ordinary world to embrace the call of adventure, while encountering a variety of tests, all for the big reward. Overall, an attitude of hope prevails even in the face of loosing lottery tickets, and unfunded startup businesses.

Big Dreamers

The good thing about startups and lotteries, are they give you back that ability to dream really big.
The lotto boasts:
Someone’s going to win why not you?

Dream Big. Win Big.
Your ticket to dream.
Dream Bigger.
Give your dreams a chance!
Dollar and a dream.
Give Your Dream a Chance

The Startup Garage team applauds the HopefulPersistent Risk-Takers in all of you who are willing to dream big!

If you have a question about your raising capital for your Startup or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!