One of the most challenging things for any entrepreneur is recognizing his or her limitations. That’s one of the many reasons why entrepreneurs are so good at making mistakes. They simply can’t help it. So when a startup type does recognize those limitations? That’s often a very, very good read.
And such is the case with ShopIgniter founder Alan Wizemann’s post describing his reasoning from stepping away from day-to-day operations at the company he founded.
Why the change? Why leave a successful start-up that shows promise to grow and expand exponentially? For me, the answer is simple; for others, it might be difficult to understand. I am a Founder, and to be a Founder you must be, first and foremost, an entrepreneur. The one overriding characteristic of an entrepreneur is a passion to accomplish a goal. We are driven. We create, build, and dream. When you lose those abilities and hire others who are more focused in their position to share percentages of your total workload as you scale a business, you lose what you are, and who you are, in the process. Founders have a shelf life. I am past my due-date.
Stay on Target… Stay on Target…
So what does the future hold for Alan? Well, a whole lot more focused effort on social commerce for one brand in particular: Target.
For me, challenges need to change with the times and I feel now that I need to solve something for an established, Fortune 50 company. One such company that I have become very close to as I worked with them at ShopIgniter in their successes in social commerce, community organization and eCommerce is Target. Starting tomorrow, I will be working closely with the entire executive team at Target on the next big thing in social commerce, built entirely internally at Target. There are more mountains to climb.
For more, read Alan’s post on his changing roles.
