why are there so few serial entrepreneurs-businesspeople who start successful companies one after the other? Of course, there's Steve Jobs and Richard Branson, but they represent a tiny minority. Serial entrepreneurs account for less
than one per cent of everyone who starts a company. Do they all retire to their
private yachts after the first success just like Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen did?
Surely not. True business people possess too much get-up-and-go to lie on a
beach chair for hours on end. Is it because they can’t let go and want to cosset
their firms until they turn 65? No. Most founders sell their shares within ten years.
Actually, you would assume that such self-starters who are blessed with talent, a
good personal network and a solid reputation would be well equipped to found
numerous other start-ups. So why do they stop? They didn't stop. They just fail
at succeeding. Only one answer makes sense: luck plays a bigger role than skill
does. No business person likes to hear this. When I first heard about the illusion of
skill, my reaction was: ‘What, my success was a fluke?’ At first, it sounds a little
offensive, especially if you worked hard to get there.