You always hear people say that mistakes and failures represent opportunities for growth. For Ricardo Jiménez, that has absolutely proved true, and on a grand scale. In fact, he’s written a book called “Crash Course,” coming out June 18, detailing the creation and collapse of his startup business, and more importantly, what he learned from the experience.
The subtitle of his book, “A Founder’s Journey to Saving Your Startup and Sanity,” hints at what makes Jiménez’s take unique. He talks at length about self-awareness and the mental health component of being an entrepreneur. “I think we need to get deeper into the human side of the person building a startup,” he says.
Jiménez calls “understanding our inner states” a huge component to evaluating motives before launching a business, following instincts while leading and, crucially, knowing when to let go if necessary. “The more you understand where you're coming from, the more you're going to understand what's happening to you, and why you are leading or making the kind of decisions you're making,” Jiménez says.
“As humans, we like to think that we can do anything – we're going to build companies, we're going to build empires, we're going to change the world. But the most likely scenario is that things will not work out as you thought, and that will create confusion, and you need to be ready to understand that that's also part of the game.”
Citing Apple Founder Steve Jobs’ famous 2005 Stanford commencement speech, Jiménez talks about “connecting the dots looking back” on one’s life. Here, he connects the dots on his own path to arrive where he is today, launching his first book and enjoying the kind of “freedom” he most values. It’s a story he describes as his “emotional journey,” and it’s one that holds lessons for others.
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