Here's Why Talent Isn't Rare. This Is.

This exact week, three years ago, I sat in two very different meetings with two very different founders.

The first founder spent our entire lunch explaining why his startup wasn’t growing: The market timing wasn’t right. His investors weren’t giving him enough runway. His team wasn’t executing his vision properly. The economy was against him. By dessert, I had heard every possible reason why success was just out of reach — none of which had anything to do with him.

Three hours later, I met the second founder in her cramped office. Her startup was facing similar headwinds, but her response was radically different: “I underestimated the sales cycle length. My initial go-to-market strategy was wrong. I’m working on three specific changes to fix this.” No excuses, no blame-shifting — just ruthless ownership and clear-eyed assessment ...