Why 'Good Kids' Are Destined to Fail in Entrepreneurship
The world is a huge makeshift stage? Then can you become that makeshift stage yourself?
I've always been particularly curious why most people who start businesses or make money come from "grassroots" backgrounds. On the other hand, people with glamorous backgrounds are often twisted—speaking the strongest values online while working the smoothest螺丝 in reality. It gives people the feeling that whatever they say is right, but whatever they do doesn't work.
Of course, now that professions like self-media have emerged, most "glamorous good kids" can become bloggers and make money from entrepreneurship simply by输出价值观 and showcasing their past backgrounds. Like me.
As I began to truly accept my entrepreneurial state, I would gain discoveries that颠覆 my own cognition every few days. It is precisely these thoughts and discoveries that have slowly relieved anxiety and other negative emotions. Sharing this to encourage friends at the same stage.
Good Kids Spend Their Lives Seeking, Learning, and Accepting Rules
Phenomenon
In communities, online, observe. Most "good kids" destined to fail in entrepreneurship have some commonalities in their questions—besides seeking certainty, they are all seeking a sense of "order."
- Before earning a single penny or registering a company, they start asking "How do I pay taxes later?"
- Before even opening the Shopify website, they start asking "Are there any systematic website building or advertising tutorials?"
- After spending less than $100 on ads, they start worrying "Is my ad data normal? Can any expert tell me the optimization formula?"
Not to mention questions like "Can someone mentor me? Please mentor me. Can you send me materials?" These are no longer in the scope of "good kids" we're discussing today—they're simply still just "kids."
Result
Asking questions and seeking knowledge is not wrong in itself, but the subsequent behaviors vary greatly.
Good kids choose to not move until they get accurate answers. But bad kids will try while asking, or even just start trying directly. This causes most good kids to fail before they even get answers.
Not to mention, in real entrepreneurial practice, if you're a good kid who likes to follow standard answers by the book, you'll almost寸步难行.
Or let's think in reverse—which industries, projects, or things already have very clear rules where anyone can succeed by following them. Do you think these projects are still "entrepreneurship"? Aren't you just being a螺丝钉 again with everyone else following the rules?
Think about it, think carefully. Open a food delivery app and look at rider recruitment, or open a Didi driver recruitment—they want you to start working within a day (no job discrimination intended, I've also driven for a while).
I even shared that "anyone who gets results in entrepreneurship has blood on their hands."
Reasons
Entrepreneurship, in most cases, involves creating rules or breaking rules.
The "rule-breaking entrepreneurship" mentioned here isn't even about innovation. Ironically, entrepreneurial big shots even teach people that the best way to start a business is pixel-level copying. But even the five words "pixel-level copying" are actually "breaking good kids' rules" because in the values good kids receive, pixel-level copying itself is an intolerable shameful mistake.
Thus, beautiful entrepreneurship is torn apart before good kids' values. They work螺丝 while complaining "So the world is just a huge makeshift stage."
Good kids have been following rules since childhood—school discipline, parents' rules, truth, goodness, and beauty. Over time, good kids will definitely be束缚 by this lifestyle and order.
Our educational culture also rarely has "dialectical" education. Science education is formulas, and even liberal arts education is absolutely correct—giving you a topic and rules, and you praise and argue around the rules and topic.
I remember the first time I broke this concept was during the IELTS exam. There's a popular essay "scoring" technique where you must write a paragraph of "however" at the end of the article. That is, you must learn to self-dialectic and self-negate, proposing different viewpoints to force yourself to have critical thinking.
For example, even if the topic is "The Internet is really good," you can write 5 good arguments, but at the end you must say "But, although the Internet is very good, it also has the following problems, blah blah blah."
Frankly, that was the first time in my life I negated and questioned in written form. I even felt unworthy every time I wrote the last paragraph: "Am I worthy of questioning? Who am I? Why should I question? Who do I think I am? Will I be deducted points for criticism?"
Growing up with "The weather is fine today, what a beautiful day, I reluctantly went home," I even had physical discomfort with this kind of dialectical thinking, causing me to actually be unable to propose effective反驳, becoming a feeling of arguing for the sake of scoring.
Good Kids Are More Afraid of Making Mistakes
Phenomenon
Around you or yourself, you've actually seen too many such examples. They say they want to start a business or side hustle, but they never actually take action because they're too afraid of failure and being judged.
Look at how many adults today don't even dare tell their families about unemployment, entrepreneurship, or life changes. On one hand, they're afraid of worrying their parents, but I think at the deepest level there are still childhood psychological shadows, worrying about being scolded again: "See, I told you earlier, you should have xxx, you shouldn't have xxx. Wrong, right?"
Or they just keep learning—I don't deliver, I don't submit, so I won't have results, so I can't fail.
FAQ
Summary
Entrepreneurship is not an exam; there are no standard answers. The educational background of "good kids" can to some extent become an obstacle to entrepreneurship—pursuing certainty too much, fearing mistakes, waiting for perfect preparation.
True entrepreneurs need:
- Dare to try and error: Learn by doing, not waiting for perfect tutorials
- Break rules: Create or break rules, not just follow them
- Accept failure: View failure as a learning opportunity, not an endpoint
- Dialectical thinking: Learn to question and negate, cultivate critical thinking
The world is indeed like a makeshift stage, but this is exactly the opportunity for ordinary people. Since everyone is learning while doing, why don't you dare to start?
Don't let the "good kid" mindset束缚 your entrepreneurial path. Let go of obsession with certainty, embrace uncertainty, and grow through trial and error—this is the correct way to open entrepreneurship.
