The opinions expressed in commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune. Exit,” was the co-founder and CEO of Tru Optik, a data and identity streaming media advertising company, which was acquired by TransUnion in one of the only 9-figure exits by a Black American. No one can limit your aspirations but you.Īndre Swanston, “Mr. You need perseverance and stamina.īeing too embarrassed to fail and allowing your detractors to be right, along with the support and encouragement you get from those who believe in you, can truly fire you up. Having a great idea, and working smart isn’t enough. The fear of embarrassment still motivates me as a CEO and entrepreneur. They were never hesitant to work long hours. Our team saw how hard we were working, and it became contagious. In the early days of Tru Optik, there were many months when my co-founder and I had to take as little as possible to keep the company moving forward. I secured angel investors, smaller venture capital funds, state investment vehicles, and strategic corporate investors.
Instead of letting these failures defeat me, I used them as fuel to prove the VC funds wrong. Most of the VC funds wouldn’t even meet with me. My fear of embarrassment helped me battle through constant rejection from premier venture capital funds as a young Black CEO who didn’t attend an Ivy League university or work at a major tech company. Eventually, I secured a nine-figure exit surpassing the “more experienced” and “better fit” investments of the premier funds’ lemmings. His advice about working hard and persevering has stayed with me, and looking back, it was perhaps my fear of embarrassment and disappointment that fueled my desire to make the business a success. Kitts and Nevis and worked several jobs to ensure that our family had everything we needed. Jackson used to say, “If you can conceive it in your mind, you can achieve it.” Looking back at my childhood, I remember my father always telling me that if I wanted to succeed, I had to work harder than anyone else. People only feel embarrassed when they think they should have been better prepared or that something happened that they believe shouldn’t have happened. The only thing more palpable than the fear of embarrassment is the fear of death. There are two types of embarrassment: feeling like you will disappoint your supporters (your friends, family, employees, investors, industry peers, and clients) or feeling like you don’t want to give your “haters” the satisfaction of seeing you fail.
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