from MARK SUSTER weblog

I will be posting a series on what makes an entrepreneur. There will be 11 posts in this series. Click on the links below to read any of the posts.

1. Tenacity – the most important attribute of an entrepreneur is never being willing to give up.

2. Street Smarts – getting out and understanding customers is far more important than book smarts or computer research.

3. Ability to Pivot – it’s not good enough to be tenacious and smart. You also need to be sure you have a great product/market fit and that it is a big enough market to make money. The best entrepreneurs fine tune their product and their business model until they find this groove.

4. Resiliency – being an entrepreneur is sexy … for those who haven’t done it. In reality it’s gritty, tough work where you will be filled with self doubt. Entrepreneurs are survivors.

5. Inspiration - Tenacity + street smarts is not enough without inspiration. You need to lead teams and convince others to move mountains when by all means they shouldn’t believe they can.

6. Perspiration - We all know people who can stand up at a conference and deliver a rousing speech or who sound awesome in front of customers. But it takes more than inspiration to build a successful business. It takes perspiration also.