By Grace W. Ueng
Endurance Entrepreneurs
Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster,
they have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. - Muhammad Ali
Donna Jensen, former CEO of Startups.com in the bay area, believes the correlation between entrepreneurship and endurance sports is “a good, healthy supply of ‘endorphins’…the most successful entrepreneurs have high-energy levels and tremendous stamina probably due to the powerful effect of endorphins.” She adds that she does not know of any entrepreneurs on steroids!
Jensen always loved to run and when she shut down Startups.com in 2002, she signed up for her first marathon and “discovered that euphoric feeling again at about mile 10 and was hooked.” She discovered that she was not alone. “While training, I came across numerous other dot.com CEO casualties who were also training for a marathon or triathlon. We laughed it off saying it was better than hitting the booze, but I think we all knew that we missed the energy and excitement of it all.” So, endurance sports are also a perfect fit for entrepreneurs between ventures.
This also rang true for me – in 2001, after I completed my one year cross country tour of duty integrating OpenSite Technologies here in Durham with Siebel Systems out in San Mateo, I started to train for my first marathon with Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training, and now am a trustee and board member where our mission is to eradicate blood related cancers.
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