10 Startup Commandments

Andy's one of the regulars on AVC, has an extraordinarily sharp business sense, and he's also a connoisseur of Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon: http://andyswan.com/blog/?s=pappy

EDIT: Specifically, from XI: The Nine Situations

    23. Throw your soldiers into positions whence there
    is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. 
    If they will face death, there is nothing they may
    not achieve.  Officers and men alike will put forth
    their uttermost strength.

6. PANTS in the face of temporary defeats

is particularly trenchant and evocative.

It seems there are a few points along the continuum of perseverance or personal outs (commandment #4):

At one end, burn the boats Cortez-style (worked ok for Cortez in the long run, not so well for all his crew). Is this for the leader's resolve or for the team's? This is probably the hardest for a founder that currently supports a family with a day job. Quit and make the jump on a founder's salary?

At the other end, the notion that entrepreneurs are more risk averse than most would guess and don't usually bet the farm on a decision with insufficient data. I don't like this end, sounds like paralysis.

Somewhere in the middle is probably where I fit, which is why the lean startup notion of "The Pivot" is so appealing to me. I support a family with a day job, so I like the idea of testing hypotheses rather than betting on a conclusion before the experiment. Plus, I think you can still execute because learning is progress.

I love presenting to strangers as a way to get feedback free of relationship-related noise. I rather have strangers poke holes at my business than have relationships ignoring them.

In 3 the "hours? all of them" part is hyperbole and also both unwise and unnecessary. High hours leads to burnout. Plus it should be about results not hours.

Most of his points are good.

"When I see an entrepreneur in a suit, the first thing I think is "I wonder what else he is dressing up"."

It doesn't hurt to look professional in a business situation. The vast majority of the business world doesn't wear black turtlenecks and jeans and work in Silicon Valley.

For outsiders not in the computer industry there can be a huge difference seeing someone come and present in a suit or even a dress shirt and tie versus sneakers, jeans and t-shirt.