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ReadWriteStart’s last article titled “Are You Really an Entrepreneur?” is a a great post that emphasizes some of the less sexy, but realistic elements of being an entrepreneur. Anyone interested in starting a company should check out the article. I don’t think it should discourage individuals from going after their dreams, but hopefully it will better prepare them for what is to come. This will likely improve the outcome of a new venture since proper planning can overcome many challenges faced by an entrepreneur.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the article:

• Put down “The 4-Hour Workweek”; it is a myth that the author spun to sell books (so that he could work 4 hours a week).
• There will be long periods of time when everyone around you questions your sanity, and on all normal metrics (hours worked and stress endured vs. material rewards gained), they would be right.
• The entrepreneur is an odd mix: part dreamer, part brutal realist and pragmatist.
• Entrepreneurs have to be generalists. They may know one thing very, very well. But they also have to know enough about almost everything else to occasionally do those things themselves, and have the judgment to eventually hire the right people to do those things.

And people wonder why only a few startups are successful…