The word “entrepreneur” is thrown around so freely in today’s business vernacular that it can lose its significance. We often picture bold visionaries revolutionising industries overnight. The reality, however, is grounded in tenacity, opportunity-spotting, and a willingness to “win or learn”, and it’s as much a mindset as it is a job description.
Over the next few thousand words, I’ll explore what sets successful founders and business builders apart, how neurodiversity shapes entrepreneurial success, the power of values-based recruitment, and lessons all leaders can apply, regardless of where they are on their journey.
Rethinking the ‘Entrepreneur’
The stereotypical entrepreneur is a disruptor—someone who takes risks, pursues novel ideas, and changes the world. Yet for many genuine business founders, that label feels oddly out of place. Their drive often comes not from a fascination with entrepreneurship itself, but rather from a lifelong habit of identifying overlooked opportunities and relentlessly acting upon them.
The entrepreneurial mindset can, therefore, be described as a combination of opportunity-spotting and creation—often emerging early, before the person realises what it is. Consider the person who, as a teenager, turned a charity week at school into a small-scale enterprise, selling toast out of a classroom window and drawing classmates into a makeshift production line. Or the student who, instead of settling for the ordinary, finds a way to get their football club sponsored, secure a professional coach, and start building teams and tours—long before they’ve created any firm or incorporated a company.
Curiosity, a tendency to solve problems differently, a proclivity for leading small teams (even informally), and a desire to do things better and faster—these are the qualities that make the so-called entrepreneur tick. Rarely, however, do they think of themselves first and foremost as an “entrepreneur”. More often, they identify as business people, creators, or simply opportunity spotters.
The Role of Neurodiversity
Linking these mindsets is often, though not always, a degree of neurodiversity, with dyslexia being a prime example. Far from being a barrier, it can be a source of entrepreneurial flair. Dyslexia (and neurodiversity more generally) impacts the way people process information, approach problems, and navigate the world. It can be a significant burden when undiagnosed and unsupported, as schools, by and large, still cater for the 90% whose brains are wired in a more traditional, linear fashion, while those thinking differently are seen as distractible or underperforming.
When undiagnosed, these differences are often mistaken for a failure to buckle down or a tendency to disrupt. For many, school wasn’t designed for their way of processing. But once recognised, these differences frequently become a superpower: the ability to see what others miss, to think in innovative ways, and to build novel connections.
It is telling that an overwhelming proportion—more than half, by some studies—of Britain’s self-made millionaires are dyslexic. What could be seen as a disadvantage in an educational setting becomes a critical asset when it comes to opportunity spotting and creative problem solving. The entrepreneurial journey, then, is not just about building a business. It’s about self-awareness and acceptance, about seeing setbacks not as personal failings but as signposts, learning opportunities, and—ultimately—foundations for future success.
Reframing Failure: Win or Learn
Society often tells us failure is something to be ashamed of. The best founders, however, embrace it as a key learning driver. Success is not a straight line, and setbacks are inevitable. The trick is how one bounces back. The “win or learn” philosophy encapsulates this: every apparent loss is a lesson.
Imagine mapping your business journey as a straightforward motorway from London to Edinburgh. That’s the plan, anyway. But in reality, there are diversions, breakdowns, traffic jams, and potholes. The destination remains the same—even if the route takes an unexpected turn. The key lies in resilience: take the setback, acknowledge it, but keep your eyes on the long-term goal. Reframe speedbumps as opportunities to learn and recalibrate.
This approach mirrors the advice of certain high-performance experts: Expect the unexpected. Plan for things to go awry (“thinking correctly under pressure”). Spend time not just strategising for best-case scenarios, but also for what you’ll do when things go wrong. And remember, failure is only problematic when you don’t learn from it and repeat the same mistake.
Goal Setting: The Power of the BHAG
A core part of the entrepreneurial mindset is setting goals that stretch the imagination and defy incremental thinking. “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals” (affectionately, BHAGs) give teams and founders alike something to reverse-engineer, breaking lofty ambitions into concrete steps.
Rather than getting lost in day-to-day minutiae, successful founders use BHAGs as the north star. By cascading these goals down into ten-year, five-year, one-year, quarterly, and even daily targets, they make the outlandish achievable. They also make course correction less daunting when times get tough: even if today was a setback, you’re one day closer to your vision if you keep acting with intention.
Values Over Skills: Recruitment the Right Way
As companies grow, the founder’s job evolves from being the chief doer to being the chief enabler. And that brings into focus an often-misunderstood lever for performance: values-based recruitment.
Technical skills are important, but they can be taught. Values, ingrained from childhood or even inherited through family tradition, are what truly predict long-term cultural fit. When businesses recruit based first on values and then on skills, the outcome is a team rowing in the same direction, a group able to tackle challenges together in good faith.
A classic analogy is the Olympic rowing boat: one person paddling against the others slows the boat immensely. Far better an empty seat than a misaligned colleague. The best businesses perform “values interviews”, using real-world scenarios to assess alignment—and are ruthless about not hiring, even if someone looks perfect on paper, if the chemistry is off. And fun finding people who will make the workplace a pleasure, is as central as it is overlooked.
Values, when they work, are more than just words on the wall. They’re embedded in company lore, illustrated by “grandmaster” role models, and codified in three simple principles. For some, these are: “entire buy-in” to the business’ vision and to every team member’s development; “make sure you look after your own responsibilities”; and “go the extra mile” once your own work is done, not before.
Creating Culture: From Internal Teams to External Partnerships
Values-based thinking doesn’t stop at recruitment or internal teams. It extends to partnerships, supplier selection, and even customer relationships. A business that tolerates rudeness, carelessness, or misalignment from suppliers will soon see that attitude spill over to customers and teams.
This may sometimes mean walking away from a lucrative contract or refusing to be associated with businesses that don’t match your standards. It’s a long-term investment in brand and legacy, one that shapes how you are remembered in the marketplace and in your community.
Neurodiversity in Practice
Talk of neurodiversity is now widespread. In practice, it can be difficult to build genuinely neurodiverse teams. Not everyone feels comfortable being open about a diagnosis of dyslexia, ADHD, or other neurodiverse profiles. Everyone has different needs and approaches to productivity. As leaders, the onus is on us to look for practical ways to create space and flexibility, so that everyone’s unique strengths can flourish.
For one employee, this might mean taking a ten-minute break to watch a football highlight during the workday, recharging their mind before returning to high-performance tasks. For others, it will be something else entirely. Tolerance, understanding, and an adaptive, human-centred approach are key.
It’s also important to foster neurodiversity, not just as a ‘tick box’ for skills diversity but as a true diversity of thought. Building leadership teams with varied thinking styles is as important as reflecting gender, race, or background. Companies that get this right outperform those that do not—a fact borne out again.
Football Clubs and the Myth of ‘Different Rules’
Moving into more public arenas, such as football club ownership, puts these lessons in stark relief. While the sports world often insists that “football is different”, the fundamentals of sustainable business still apply: have a vision, build a strategy, recruit for values, and run the club professionally.
The unique challenge in football (and in any business where the public is invested in the outcomes) is the scrutiny, noise, and volatility of opinions. After all, matchdays deliver instant performance feedback, and every fan is an amateur director of football. Still, the key to sustainable success is running the club as a business first, creating value and stability off the pitch, to enable winning performances on it.
The Misconceptions of Founding a Business
Outsiders sometimes imagine that founders and CEOs are living glamourous lives, jet-setting and making millions overnight. The reality, at least for most, is much less flashy. The first decade is usually a grind: reinvesting every penny, riding out months (sometimes years) without a paycheck, putting the team’s security ahead of one’s own, and frankly, worrying more often than celebrating.
What keeps you going? The knowledge that you’re building towards something meaningful, a business that aligns with your purpose, values, and vision for the long term. Occasionally, there are glamorous payoffs—meetings on yachts or in Miami boardrooms—but those are the exception, not the rule.
It’s also about learning to filter out everything that isn’t value-adding. Founders who eventually find balance often do so by auditing how they spend their time, ruthlessly eliminating low-impact activities, and ensuring that, net-net, their experience remains enjoyable and fulfilling. The freedom to focus on what truly excites is hard-won but invaluable.
Lessons for Leaders at Every Level
- Stop fearing failure. Each setback is a lesson; the faster you learn, the faster you grow.
- Set Big, Bold Goals. Stretch your imagination and reverse-engineer the steps to get there.
- Recruit for values, train for skills. Skills can be taught. Shared values multiply outcomes.
- Prioritise culture. It’s your greatest market differentiator—and your best defence against setbacks.
- Embrace neurodiversity. Different brains make for stronger businesses.
- Don’t buy into the glamour myth. Entrepreneurship is often more relentless than romantic.
- Audit your time. Focus on the work that adds value—and where you can both learn and contribute.
Final Thoughts
Running a successful business, whether it’s a digital media group or a football club, ultimately comes down to resilience, clarity of purpose, intentionality in recruitment, and an unwavering belief in shared values. Hard work, humility, and adaptability outlast luck or raw talent every time. Even so, the work must be enjoyable. As the old saying goes: “One life, live it. One life, love it.” If you’re not having fun, it might be time to re-evaluate your path.
For a deeper dive into these insights, including first-hand reflections on neurodiversity, recruitment, legacy, and the reality versus the myth of entrepreneurial life—listen to the latest episode of Beyond Breakeven hosted by Alex Deakin Mackay, featuring serial founder Spencer Gore. Their wide-ranging conversation brings to life the practical realities and philosophies that underpin truly sustainable business building.
If you’re interested in fostering a high-performance, values-driven culture of your own, or want to know more about navigating growth, setbacks, and the people side of business, get in touch. The future belongs to those who spot opportunities, act with intent, and leave every business and every team, better than they found it.
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This post was inspired by insights shared in the “Beyond Breakeven” podcast episode featuring Spencer Gore, Founder and CEO, EMJ. For further stories and actionable advice from business leaders at the growth coalface, subscribe to Beyond Breakeven.
