What’s one trait someone would need to cultivate if they want to be a successful entrepreneur in the tech industry, and why?
These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year, and have created tens of thousands of jobs. Learn more at yec.co.
1. The Willingness to Change
To be a successful entrepreneur, one trait you need to have is the willingness to change. You may have an incredible idea with a great vision, but for many reasons, it may not work out the way you want it to. If you’re adamant about sticking to the plan no matter what, your business can suffer. You need to be ready to accept changes and pivot in a better direction that benefits your company best.
– Benjamin Rojas, All in One SEO
2. A Disregard for the Status Quo
Cultivate a healthy disregard for the status quo. If you want to make a significant impact in tech, you’ll need to be comfortable believing you’re right in some way that most people miss. You don’t want to be delusional, but you need to have the ability to hold your ground on some contrarian idea. Then prove that you’re right by building technology that changes that status quo!
3. A Desire to Learn
The ability and desire to keep learning will be the best asset you can have if you want a long career in the tech industry. It is easy to be on top of the game in your early twenties, but if you’re going to stay on top of tech for the following decade, you will have a lot of learning to do throughout. You want to train yourself to continuously learn and test the limits of what is new.
– Salvador Ordorica, The Spanish Group LLC
4. Out-of-the-Box Thinking
One of the most important traits for an entrepreneur is to be able to think outside of the box. A successful tech entrepreneur needs to be creative and innovative in order to come up with new ideas and products. The tech industry is a very competitive industry and you need to have a lot of creativity in order to make your product stand out from the rest.
– Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
5. Agility
You need to be open to constantly adapting your approach to what customers actually want. The tech industry moves so fast that something that seems like a great idea could be obsolete in a few months. An app could be overshadowed by a newer app; a popular trend turns out to be short-lived. You need to be extremely agile and watch what’s happening every day.
6. Self-Confidence
Self-confidence is extremely important, especially when attempting to introduce something new and/or disruptive to an existing market. One of the most disastrous afflictions for a tech entrepreneur is “impostor syndrome” because you won’t be able to convince investors and VCs to share your vision if you don’t even believe in it yourself.
– Bryce Welker, The CPA Exam Guy
7. Persistence
Passion, wit and creativity are nothing if you’re not persistent about finding solutions to problems and finishing tasks. Persistence is needed to analyze your problems and the cause of delays appropriately. You dig deep, and you don’t accept “no” for an answer. With consistency, this entrepreneur will have more successful years ahead.
– Daisy Jing, Banish
8. A Comfort With Risk
Someone would need to be able to be comfortable with risk-taking and have a strong belief in their own ideas in order to be a successful entrepreneur in the tech industry. This is because the tech industry is constantly changing and evolving, and successful entrepreneurs need to be able to adapt to these changes quickly and efficiently.
9. Curiosity
If I had to name one trait tech entrepreneurs need to cultivate, it would be curiosity. You have to be unapologetically curious about your industry, competitors and your business if you want to thrive. You can pursue this trait by staying up to date on the latest tech news, connecting with other industry experts and reading relevant case studies.
