I am an entrepreneur at heart. There is no place in the world that I would rather be than in the United States. In spite of all of the assaults on the entrepreneur as of late, I have hope. We live in America. Entrepreneurialism is in our blood ? it is the fabric of our country. What compels someone in the 1600s to get on a boat with his family to start a new life in a New World? Entrepreneurialism. What gives someone the gumption to load up in a covered wagon and head West for a plot of dirt? Entrepreneurialism. What compels someone to start a business with ideas that ?everyone? thinks are crazy ? things like: writing a constitution that is made to stand the test of time; or making a phone call; or driving a car; or putting men on a moon; or holding the Internet in your hands? Entrepreneurialism.
Entrepreneurialism is a gift, that spreads like a disease. It cannot be held in by the constraints of the status quo, the reins of rules and regulation, or a dismal attitude of the masses. Entrepreneurialism is what sets this country apart. Whether it be a company that rockets from start-up to a Fortune 500 like HomeDepot; the long-term genius, vision and discipline of Apple (from the Newton to the iPad 22 years later); to the thousands of small businesses built on the backs of their founders ? entrepreneurialism runs strong through America. It is a light on a hill and cannot be shut out.
No entrepreneur, if honest, can tell you how he or she will do it when they have a new idea for business. They just know that they will. They create their own destiny, fulfill their own prophecy ? or not. Most entrepreneurs fail. It is rare that the entrepreneur won?t try it again. It was 11 years and 3 months ago that I wasn?t sure how I was going to pay my mortgage the next month. For me, that memory that seems so distant now in some respects, and, yet, it is always seemingly at the forefront of my mind ? providing fuel for when my tank is empty. Every successful entrepreneur that I know has had those moments. Those moments of failure or near failure when there is seemingly no one there to help you (including that magical government that our president has recently talked about). In those lonely moments, it hones your character. It shapes you. It teaches you. Entrepreneurialism is like that. Humility is the soil in which success is sown.
Today I am celebrating one of the fun days that an entrepreneur experiences. Today we closed on our equity for Compass Datacenters, which I started some 10 months ago. I am very thankful.
- I thank my team at Compass, without whom, there is no Compass.
- I thank our first customer, for without a customer there is no such thing as a business.
- I thank our capital providers for their belief in our business.
- I thank our business partners who supply us with the product and services that make Compass go.
- I thank all of our service providers who give us sound counsel and guidance.
- I thank my friends who provided me the sounding board, counsel and feedback that I thirsted for during the past year.
- I thank all of my other companies and employers, without whom I would not have the experience and relationships that have made me what I am today.
- I thank all of those in the industry who have provided feedback and well wishes for our success.
- I thank my wife for the unbelievable support and understanding that she gives to her crazy husband.
- I thank my kids for their daily prayers, but mostly for the dose of reality that they inject into me everyday through their own trials and tribulations.
- I thank my dad and mom for nurturing and encouraging my entrepreneurial spirit, including all the A.D.D. that comes with it!
- I thank my friends and family, who provide so much encouragement and support.
- I thank the great state of Texas for the energy and positive environment that only Texas can foster.
- I thank the founders of this great country and the spirit of entrepreneurialism that they imbued into the essence of our nation.
- I thank the veterans that have shed their blood and given their lives to protect it.
- Most of all, I thank God for the providence, guidance and love to one who truly is not worthy.
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