Doug Burgoyne: Co-founder and president, Frogbox
This question arose at a critical point in my career with Frogbox. I took a position as a strategy consultant with Telus Mobility the same month that I started Frogbox. The service that we were providing has essentially never been done on such a large scale. Therefore, I felt quite uneasy about investing time and money into a startup without having a salary until the business model proved to work.
There are three main questions that entrepreneurs must ask themselves when making these kinds of commitments:
•What is my tolerance for risk?
•How long can I go on an entrepreneur's salary (often nothing!)?
•How much does my undivided attention increase the probability of success?
Risk tolerance can vary, depending on age, family/marital status and what point you are at in your career. Beyond emotional factors, there's the looming financial query – realistically, how long can you survive with the reduced salary of an entrepreneur?
The last thing you want is to feel like you didn't succeed because you didn't focus enough on your idea. Some ideas just don't work, despite how much time and effort go into them. There is no shame in an unsuccessful venture as long as you've poured your heart and soul into it. My recommendation is to keep your job, if possible, until you are confident that your startup's fundamental business model works. Every situation is different, and you need to consider the three questions above. For me, the time was right when our Vancouver location had been open for nine months and we were comfortable that our business was addressing consumer needs.
Paulin Laberge: Entrepreneur-in-residence, BC Innovation Council, and serial entrepreneur
It depends on how much risk you can tolerate. If you accept Steve Blank's definition that a startup is a “temporary institution searching for a repeatable and scalable business model,” and note that the great majority of startups do not find one, it's likely that you will never realize a financial return by giving up a paying job to start (or join) a startup.
OK with that? Check! Now consider that overnight success for most startups often equates to five to 10 years of hard work. Are you comfortable with the prospect of working a long time for little or no salary?
You're good with that? Excellent! Next ask yourself, how passionate am I about the idea behind my startup? Is the idea consuming every spare moment? Am I boring my friends by taking about it constantly? Do I dream about it? If so, you've already made the mental leap, so you might as well make your startup your day job if you can answer yes to the following three questions:
•Is my startup solving a big problem that people are willing to pay money to solve right now?
•Are there enough people out there with that same problem to allow me to build a really big company? How much revenue will my startup generate in years one, two and three? Is that worth me working 24/7 for the next three years?
•Is my idea so unique and powerful that people will buy my solution rather than my competitor's? Once my cool idea gets out there, can I prevent my deeper-pocket competitors from replicating it and dominating my market?
If you're not emphatically saying yes to these questions, stick with your day job and spend more evenings and weekends refining your idea until you do.
Boris Wertz: Founder, Version One Ventures
Giving up your day job and becoming an entrepreneur is something a lot of people dream about. But before you jump ship and start your own startup, consider these five questions:
•Are you truly passionate about your startup idea and would you be excited to work on this business for the next 10 years?
•Are you ready to work 12 to 15 hours a day, work most weekends and not take any holidays for the next few years?
•Can you give up a regular paycheque and live on a minimum amount of money?
•Are you OK living with daily emotional ups and downs?
•Are you ready to never give up and to fight for the success of your company whatever it takes?
Starting a company is one of the most exciting things that you can do in your life – but also one of the hardest. So if your answer is yes to all five questions above, you are ready to take on that challenge.
While it might be smart to do some planning and research on your startup idea while still at your day job, the reality is also that the key to success for any new startup is execution – “just doing it” is the one thing that differentiates the successful entrepreneur from the “aspirational” entrepreneur.
So if you feel that you have it in you to be an entrepreneur, then just do it. The best timing might be now, the best entrepreneur might be you.
