NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 10: Ken Davenport and the cast and crew of Once on This Island accept the award ... [+]
When Broadway producer Ken Davenport got his Tony Award in June of 2018 he said: “This is a business where you hear no an awful lot.” Persistence is a key quality to succeed in being a successful Broadway producer.
He could have been talking about his business for which he won another great honor this year, a place on the Inc. 5000 list which recognizes the fastest-growing privately-owned companies in America.
Davenport - who is also the author of Broadway Investing 101 - wrote on his blog about how excited he was to be on that list. As a startup coach and Broadway investor myself, I wanted to find out what his lessons are for startup founders.
Persistence
I asked Davenport about persistence. “If you don’t have persistence then you should be working a 9-5 job. Without a doubt passion and persistence are the most important things.
Persistence is also the single most important trait that determines entrepreneurial success. Staying in the game – even when you encounter setbacks, people leave, and you hear no over and over again – persistence is the only way you will make it.
I asked Davenport how he maintains perspective in the face of rejection. “It’s about coming to terms with rejection, and accepting it with a positive attitude and learning from it. There are a lot of people in the world and there are a lot of ideas in the world. You will find the people who want your ideas if you keep at it.”
When I coach CEOs, one of the most important things they have to do is deal with rejection. One founder I worked with got rejected about 30 times before he was able to pull his initial round of funding together; that same founder is about to close his first multi-million dollar deal.
When you see rejection as part of the process, you can then use it to learn, to sharpen your thinking, and to make you better. Perspective and persistence help you do this.
The value of relationships
Davenport talked about the importance of building relationships. “I had to learn this the hard way,” Davenport said. “I'm a guy who can solve any problem staring at my computer, but that's actually not the fastest way to solve problems. The fastest way is to get out and meet other people and network and develop your own tribe.”
Many of the founders I coach – especially the technical ones – tend to think that they can do it all just by using the power of their own brains. Or algorithms. The truth is exactly the opposite. Entrepreneurs have to go from being soloists to conductors. They have to build teams, get to know potential investors, and engage customers.
Key people in your network include having someone who will hold you accountable – a peer group, a coach, a mastermind. They are the ones who make sure you stay on track to achieve your goals.
The need to say no
Davenport said one of the key elements of his success is finally accepting that he had to say no to things he wanted to do. “It is such a cliché, but it’s true. Saying no is the hardest thing an entrepreneur does. This is still hard for me. When I have a great idea I want to do it.”
This may feel counter-intuitive. As an entrepreneur, you are by definition full of creative possibilities and ideas: You want to pursue everything so you don’t miss anything.
But, as Davenport said, “You can’t pursue every idea because that will prevent you from pursuing the big ideas.” Using this strategy himself, he said that he sold and killed several businesses so he could focus on developing new musicals. Now he has six new musicals that are about to hit the market. “I would never have had those musicals up and running if I had been distracted by the little stuff.”
Most of the founders I coach fall prey to this. They want to sell to consumers and to enterprises. They want a product to have all the new features that a customer wants. Entrepreneurs are not built for “no.”
One suggestion I give to the founders I coach is to deliberately choose what they are not going to do and be explicit about this to their teams. I encourage them to literally make a “not to do” list to force them to make tough choices. I also suggest they praise their people who follow the “not to do” list to reinforce the point. This is a powerful way to illustrate the message that saying no is valued. It’s essential for entrepreneurial success.
Sometimes the best role models come from other industries. If you want to be a successful founder, think like a Broadway producer.
