There really is no difference between successful entrepreneurs and unsuccessful ones except for the decision to do it. I find that most successful people have the trait is that they take action regardless of the fact that they have a co-founder or not. They naively move forward and as obstacles come in their way, find ways to solve them.
Most of the time what makes or breaks a startup is the tenacity to stick with it and plow through obstacles. Of course, one has to be practical in some cases (e.g., the iPhone example mentioned in the article). But I think in most cases, there is always a solution. As Brian Chesky says, "If you can imagine it, you can create it".
"There really is no difference between successful entrepreneurs and unsuccessful ones except for the decision to do it."
Huh? Both already decided to 'do it', and the there's still a distinction which you're making yourself in the wording - "successful" and "unsuccessful". There's some other difference besides deciding to "do it". I've known a number of unsuccessful entrepreneurs who "did it", but didn't succeed. Some of that non-success was related to them directly, some was timing, some was poor idea, etc. But they still 'did it' and weren't successful.
Necessary but not sufficient right? I alluded to the same point in my comment above, successful entrepreneurs get shit done and don't make excuses (ie. if something is a true problem then the find another angle).
However there's a significant selection bias at work in believe that tenacity always wins. In reality there are no doubt many people who simply do not have what it takes. Granted most of them do quit rather than spending an entire life trying, but I'm sure they're out there, you just haven't heard of them.
As Brian Chesky says, "If you can imagine it, you can create it".
What a silly thing to say. A quick glance at pretty much any sci-fi novel proves that. Go on, go build me a light-sabre, capable of cutting through metre-thick bulkheads. Once you've finished with that, I'd like a time machine so I can go back in time and look at dinosaurs, and also a perpetual motion machine. I leave the order of the last two up to you.
I don't think that quote is meant to be taken literally. It's more a commentary on how you can accomplish most things you can put your mind to; the only limits you place are those you impose on yourself.
And I don't know, but it might be possible to create a light-sabre. Who knows. I am sure that we live with technology today that seemed just as impossible 100 years ago.
Most of the time what makes or breaks a startup is the tenacity to stick with it and plow through obstacles. Of course, one has to be practical in some cases (e.g., the iPhone example mentioned in the article). But I think in most cases, there is always a solution. As Brian Chesky says, "If you can imagine it, you can create it".