As an entrepreneur, you’ll often find yourself standing in a room full of stories—each one inspiring, challenging, and wildly different from the next. Yet, we see leaderboards and rankings for entrepreneurs, as if success in this field is something that can be quantified and compared.
Let me tell you—it cannot.
Here’s why:
1. Every journey is unique.
An entrepreneur’s path is shaped by countless factors—starting circumstances, exposure, ecosystem, availavility of resources, chosen industry, impact made, challenges faced, and opportunities seized.
Someone building a tech startup in Silicon Valley with VC funding is not walking the same path as someone building a manufacturing business in a Tier-2 city in India.
2. Timing and luck matter more than we admit.
The same idea that fails today might succeed tomorrow. Market trends, economic cycles, and even random serendipity can play a pivotal role in determining outcomes. Luck isn’t something we like to talk about, but it’s always in the room.
3. Purpose makes all the difference.
Not every entrepreneur is driven by the same goal. Some are here for wealth creation, others for social impact. Some want to prove a business model; others aim to change a social norm. Comparing them is like comparing apples and oranges.
4. Media attention skews perception.
Media loves to celebrate the highs and skim over the lows. What we often see are the polished, superhero versions of entrepreneurs, not the gritty, messy reality of their journeys.
We need to stop comparing journeys and start learning from them.
The true value lies in understanding these stories authentically—not as tales of mythical genius, but as case studies of experiments, outcome, resilience, failure, and growth. Entrepreneurs aren’t superheroes.
They make more mistakes than right decisions. They face self-doubt at many stages. And their success isn’t magical—it’s the result of evolving self-awareness, improved decision-making, and consistent execution over time.
If we want to inspire and guide future entrepreneurs, we need authentic stories—not flowery ones filled with drama and improbable victories or dramatized struggles.
The entrepreneurial journey is not about racing to the top of some imaginary leaderboard. It’s about becoming the best version of yourself while building something meaningful and impactful, and something that reflect your values and idealogies.
So, let’s celebrate each journey for what it is: a unique, evolving story that holds lessons, not rankings.
Do you agree that the focus should shift to understanding and celebrating each journey authentically?
Share your thoughts in the comments!