The best "return on luck" story ever
As a founder, every day is an emotional rollercoaster — especially in the early years, when the survival of your start-up feels so precarious.
One of my favorite models for navigating this uncertainty is the story of the Chinese farmer.
It goes like this:
There once was a Chinese farmer with a prized stallion. One day, his horse ran away into the mountains and his neighbors all came around exclaiming, “What terrible luck!”
The farmer replied, “Maybe. Too soon to tell.”
The next day, the horse returned, bringing seven wild horses with it. “What great luck!” said the neighbors.
“Maybe,” said the farmer. “Too soon to tell.”
Later that week, the farmer’s son broke his leg while trying to tame one of the wild horses. “What terrible luck!” the neighbors said.
And the farmer replied again, “Maybe. Too soon to tell.”
A month later, conscription officers came to recruit men for the army, but they rejected the farmer’s son because of his broken leg. “What great luck!” the neighbors said.
And once again, the farmer said, “Maybe. Too soon to tell.”
This is one of life’s greatest gifts: that nothing has built-in meaning. Nothing is inherently good or bad.
But we live in a world obsessed with who’s winning or losing. We rush to judge things as “good” or “bad” luck.
The best founders don’t waste time with these labels. Instead, they ask, “Now what?” and focus on:
Doing what they can with what they have
Being ready for opportunity
Executing with precision
On the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder podcast, I spoke with Swing CEO San Kim, who gives a perfect example of this mindset.
In 2018, just as he was launching his micromobility startup, he was sued by a competitor. The lawsuit blocked him from raising more capital.
Terrible luck, right?
In hindsight, says San, it was the best thing that could have happened. With no timeline on when the lawsuit would be resolved, he had to survive as long as possible on the initial $1 million he had raised.
This pushed him to be frugal, disciplined and relentlessly focused on profitability.
Fast forward a few years: Investors stopped funding unprofitable companies, his competitors started failing and Swing is now one of the largest shared micromobility players in Asia.
Listen to the full conversation here.
Love,
Renita
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