You can start a company.

You’re plenty smart and there are enough opportunities out there. The more pressing question is whether you want to do it. Everybody likes the idea of doing a startup, but it’s a lot of hard work. 90% of startups fail, the outcomes are highly variable, it can take longer than you expect, plus there’s an opportunity cost to skipping an internship or leaving your job to do it.

So before you commit to doing a startup it’s important to articulate why you’re doing it. What do you hope for? What are you afraid of? What would happen if the company failed? Is there a less risky way you could pursue this thing you’re so excited about?

I acknowledge he title of this episode is the same as Simon Sinek’s famous TED Talk, but the guy totally nailed it when he said: You’ve got to start with why.

The story you’re going to hear is told by Mike McFall.

Mike McFall is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of BIGGBY Coffee. There are more than 250 BIGGBY locations around the world and they are growing like crazy. He just wrote a new book, called “Grind”, which is a practical guide to starting a new business that skips past the MBA and goes right to the nuts and bolts of building a successful, self-sustaining company.

Most importantly, Mike is the new co-instructor for this course. He and I will be teaching “Finding Your Venture” together on Thursday afternoons this Fall. Mike told this story sitting in my living room right before we walked to get poke bowls for lunch.