3 Entrepreneurial Lessons of the Duke

John Wayne and his characters are my heroes. They have swagger, they’re cool, they’re always in control but most of all they’re tough… they have grit, True Grit.

Here are the 3 lessons any entrepreneur can learn from the greatest actor of all times:

LESSON 1- John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison. His parents changed his middle name to Mitchell when they decided to name his little brother Robert.

One of the toughest guys of all time was named Marion Mitchell Morrison.  The only thing that I can assume is that his parents didn’t like him very much. His brother… Robert… Bob… a good sturdy name. For the man that would prove to be one of the most iconic film actors of all times…. Marion.

Kids being kids you have to imagine that Marion got made fun of. He probably got beat up. Probably got sand thrown in his face. Did Marion feel sorry for himself? Did he get fat and become antisocial? HELL No!

He had a dog who’s name was Duke. He liked that name and so he convinced the people in his small California town to call him Duke. In what can only be considered one of the greatest about faces in history, Marion became Duke… THE DUKE.

Lesson: To hell with all the self help daily affirmation crap. If you don’t like your name, your job, your hair, whatever,…. change it! While it may seem like a vast oversimplification it’s not. Simply decide who or what you want to be and be that person. 

You think the Duke would have put up with someone complaining about his parents. If you came to the Duke with a “I blame my inability to be successful in life on my parents and their inability to connect with me on a metaphysical level” story. I’m guessing he would have slowly placed his cigar in between his teeth, opened his right hand and slapped you right across your self pitying face… Pilgrim.

“Don’t apologize—it’s a sign of weakness.” – She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

LESSON 2- We hear about all the time how failure is simply a part of startup life. How we learn so much from our mistakes and how little we learn from our successes. That success is forged from the hot fire of our fuck ups. 

I believe all of that. I have to. I’m a startup guy and the moment you lose that belief you’re done. It’s time to go get a real job.

So you’ve just been bucked off for the 100th time, stomped on and your horse is eating your hat. How do you get your nose out of the dirt and get back on the bitch that bucked you?. How do you do it? How do you bounce back from failure?

I ask you this WWJWD… What Would John Wayne Do?

I’ll tell you a quick story. I was recently up for an opportunity to pitch my company, Moblify at a cool event in Silicon Valley. I made it to the last 12 and the top 8 would pitch. The judge jury and executioner (the sole decision maker) is an interesting guy who is about 6’3” and weighs about 120 pounds. To make a long story short, he pissed on my parade and chose a couple of really stupid companies over me. There was politics, there was ass kissing, there was all kinds of things that should have made me be absolutely fine with losing out. The game was rigged and the guy is an asshole. 

WWJWD?

Aside from felony assault (which I ruled out after pondering it for a week or two)… what would John Wayne do?

He sure in hell would not take it laying down. He would make it his singular purpose to build the worlds best company and the moment that this guy would try to claim some sort of credit for the success he would… well he would piss all over HIS parade.

Lesson- Turning the other cheek is for pussies. If someone slaps you and If you feel you’ve been wronged slap their ass back (metaphorically speaking of course). Tell me this… has the high road ever gotten you anywhere any faster than the low road? I’m guessing not. I spring out of bed every morning fired up to prove this guy is a fraud or at least a poor judge of companies You can have the high road… I’ll stick to my petty, low down, nitty gritty, target on their back low road.

You think the Duke would have let that sniveling little Aspergers boy get away with being a prick or would he have taught him some manners?

“I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.”  – The Shootist (1976)

LESSON 3- The thing that’s crazy about startups is the ups and downs.  We all know that when you get on this ride you may want to bring a puke bag with you. It is sort of like getting on the shockwave after riding the log ride. (That’s a Six Flags over Texas Reference … but I imagine you get the reference.)

The thing is, the ups are great…beyond great….but the downs are down right scary. Anyone that tells you differently is either lying or has proven themselves by selling a company or two (I call those people other siders). 

The truth is when you’re on the bottom side of that ride…the very bottom, it sucks. It makes you question your decisions. Makes you wonder if you’ve made big mistakes. If the sacrifices that you’ve made will be worth it. It makes you wonder you’ll ever be an other sider or if you’re destined to spend your life struggling to make it work.

When you’re that low there’s only one thing that get’s you through… grit. That’s it. There is no other secret. You have to be tougher than an old shoe.

Here’s what Wikipedia says about Grit:

Definition of Grit

Grit is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” [2] Building upon biographical collections of famous leaders in history, researchers and scientists have reached similar conclusions about high achieving individuals. Specifically, those individuals who were deemed more successful and influential than their contemporary counterparts typically possessed traits above and beyond that of normal ability.[3][4][5]While ability was still critically important, these individuals also possessed “zeal” and “persistence of motive and effort.”[2]Duckworth and colleagues (2007) believe this dual-component of Grit to be a crucial differentiator from similar constructs. Grit is conceptualized as a stable trait that does not require immediate positive feedback.[2]Individuals high in Grit are able to maintain their determination and motivation over long periods of time despite experiences with failure and adversity. Their passion and commitment towards the long-term objective is the overriding factor that provides the stamina required to “stay the course” amid challenges and set-backs. Essentially, the Grittier person is focused on winning the marathon, not the sprint.

If there is one thing that John Wayne personified was toughness…grit. When you’re low, pull your hat down on your head. Put your teeth in the wind and put one boot in front of the other.

“All battles are fought by scared men who’d rather be some place else.” – In Harm’s Way (1965)