Florida Venture Blog by Dan Rua dan

No-BS Venture Thoughts for No-BS Entrepreneurs.

A running perspective on Florida's growing tech and venture community, with an occasional detour to the Southeast/national scene, venture capital FAQs and maybe a gadget or two....

By Dan Rua, Managing Partner of Inflexion Partners -- "Florida's Venture Fund".

Dream Big

The Gators did it -- going from unranked preseason to NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions. According to Sophomore star and sound-bite machine Joakim Noah, it feels so good he can smell it and taste it. Defensive whiz and my pick for future NBA scoring force Corey Brewer (and multiple teammates) commented that this is something they always dreamed about -- winning it all.

That's great for us Gator fans, but what's in it for the rest of you...big dreams!

I've always believed that dreaming big is a key, yet rarely discussed talent of top entrepreneurs. I don't just mean dreams/motivational speeches of a garage startup beating the competition, I mean personal dreams that allow an entrepreneur to smell and taste what success will make possible. Building a world-changing company is hard work and will test the smartest and most experienced management teams out there. The entrepreneurs that can visualize why they are putting in the crazy hours, enduring the board pressures and testing their family's patience are the ones that will emerge from the startup crucible whole and victorious.

Although big dreams are often personal, a recent news tidbit makes good dream fodder. Hungarian-born billionaire, Charles Simonyi who helped Microsoft create Word and Excel is paying $20M and training for a flight to the space lab. He will be just the 5th private tourist to go into space. Although some people scoff at blowing $20M on such a voyage, I love it (and I'm not even a space nut)!

If you're going to dream, don't settle for a fast car or a beachfront condo with 1000 neighbors, dream big about buying the first XKE ever made or shooting the tubes off your own South Pacific island, and then keep fighting until you're there.

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