"This thing, this freakish compulsion, may be the hardest element of the game to quantify. There are no plus-minus stats to measure a player's ruthlessness, his desire to beat his opponent so badly he'll need therapy to recover. One thing's for sure: You can't teach it. If so, Eddy Curry would be All-NBA and Derrick Coleman would be getting ready for his induction ceremony in Springfield, Mass. But people know it when they see it."
Eddy Curry and Derrick Coleman were two very talented basketball players who didn't get as far as they could have. Curry and Coleman did well monetarily, but relative to their superior talents they underperformed.
Athletic greats squeeze every ounce out of their abilities. That drive and hunger is worth noting, since top athletes are typically not satisfied even when pulling in accolades, championships, and money.
Instead of measuring success relative to the general population, or a peer group, the great ones measure success relative to their potential and abilities. It's clear this also applies to startups.
I encourage everyone I know to go start something if they've at least proven there's a market need. I bet that the people who will be great are the ones who have a killer instinct to succeed.
