Actual Lesser Known Traits of Successful Founders:
1. Private high school
2. Supportive parents/mentors/friends (most likely parents, if on the younger side)
3. Sleep deprived, yet energetic
4. Addiction-prone
5. Nothing to lose
Just a few trends I have noticed over the past year.
I don't think a private high school education is necessarily universal, but in my experience a lot of founders in the valley are from wealthy (or at least, extremely upper-middle-class) backgrounds. You rarely see founders who put themselves through college by working at pizza joints -- those dudes are working for the guys who went to Harvard via trust fund.
It's a little-discussed phenomena amongst the yammering classes, but a lot of startup founders have nothing to lose but pride.
There is an old saying in my home country that basically says, "getting your hair wet.". The idea is that as you are washing your hair, you will slowly come to a point when you have shampoo on your head. That's when you know you are fully committed and there is only one acceptable outcome, otherwise you look silly no matter how much you try to explain your predicament. In my experience as an entrepreneur, the hard part is getting to that point of no return and the even harder part is to get out. Most people who wants to be entrepreneur but never do is because they are too rational to put themselves in that predicament. But as Yoda would say, "you do or you don't, but you must get wet first." I love this article. Good luck everyone.
"We all know the guy who moves from one idea to the next and never finishes anything. He’s freakishly smart, but leaves a trail of half-finished carnage in his wake. Staying focused is a huge part of being successful."
Mark Zuckerberg fits this description perfectly, at least from what I glean before he started Facebook. Facebook just took off so quickly that he couldn't get bored of it.
I couldn't emphasize the part on focus. If you can't focus, you got problems. It seems to me that a lot of entrepreneurs suffer from entrepreneurial ADD. I've noticed that that's one key differences between those who succeed and those who don't.
Just a few trends I have noticed over the past year.