There are many expectations for what skills a founder, entrepreneur, entrepreneur (dear child has many names) should possess in order to succeed. In the subject there is talk of dynamic capabilities and in the media we see entrepreneurs with unique domain expertise. But what about the others? My experience is that dynamic capabilities and domain expertise are important, but not the most important. It CAN be most important, but it DOESN'T have to be. What I mean is that it doesn't necessarily take you all the way.

It's like the eternal debate about talent vs. work ethic. Ronaldo vs. Messi.

I have seen many entrepreneurs both succeed and fail. And in many cases I find that what contributes to success is a belief. A belief in oneself, a belief in the product or service. That belief pulls the entrepreneur or the team through periods where things stand still and the rejections come quickly and frequently.

In many cases, faith also has to drown out the rationality and pessimism that creeps in every time you update a potential competitor or an obstacle.

The challenges are many, the risks are great and the outcome highly uncertain. But what is absolutely certain is that if the entrepreneur or the team does not have faith themselves, the chances of giving up too soon increase considerably. Because something almost as important as the entrepreneur and the team is timing. And the timing is incredibly difficult to hit. So hang in there and keep the faith. Maybe you don't have the best conditions, but you hit the mark on timing. Then you can also get far.