RE3EL STANCE

A few years ago I sat in a small classroom in Boston awe-struck for nearly two straight hours. I’ve heard a lot of great entrepreneurs talk. I’ve watched a lot of great entrepreneurs in action and have read the stories of exponentially more. But, few have truly made the impact on my life and entrepreneurial philosophy like Yvon Chouinard. As a web entrepreneur, my life is a daily adventure…the industry simply changes so quickly. But, no matter your industry and no matter your business, if you don’t love adventure you better close up shop and walk away.

Entrepreneurship has huge peaks and huge valleys and there is no better entrepreneur to teach us how to scale those peaks and slide down those valleys better than one of the original adventure entrepreneurs…Yvon Chouinard. Born to a French-Canadian father who was a blacksmith, Yvon watched his dad craft products in his workshop growing up. After moving to Southern California as a boy, Yvon fell in love with Mountain climbing. Eventually, Yvon would combine his knowledge of blacksmithing with his love of climbing to found Chouinard Equipment, Ltd., which eventually became Patagonia.

But, the path from making better climbing equipment out of a small workshop to being a $270 million wasn’t a straight line. And, well, that path never is. Those that don’t love the adventure eventually close shop and move on to something more stable. Those that do, relish the challenges as well as the spontaneity of entrepreneurship and stick with it long enough to earn the rewards of embracing that adventure. And, few businesses better reflect that than Patagonia and its founder.

Yvon Chouinard won’t be found wearing a suit. He rarely spends time in an office. Heck, he claims he practices his MBA every day….Management By Absence. But, none of this is to say that he isn’t a brilliant leader, a brilliant businessperson and a brilliant entrepreneur.

Yvon Chouinard remains an avid climber and has never lost his status as one of the most adventurous and respected climbers on the planet. Oh, and he is a world class fisherman. And, did I mention that he also surfs, kayaks and is a falconer. Or, did I mention that he is a leading environmentalist, an inspired designer and a passionate world traveler. And, I could keep going on and on and on.

Now, you’re probably thinking that having hobbies doesn’t make you a great entrepreneur and, well…I agree. But having passions does especially when those passions involve adventure and, most importantly, when the same energy you have for those passions is also used when you are building your business. For, as Yvon Chouinard will tell you, building a business is no different than climbing a mountain.

So, how do you embrace adventure to help you be a better entrepreneur? Well, with Yvon’s inspiration, I think it comes down to:

• Embracing ambiguity: No matter how well you know how to write a business plan or budgets or strategic documents, they will all be wrong. In the end, entrepreneurship is a thrill ride around blind curves. Just like Yvon didn’t know that blacksmithing a few climbing tools would turn into the Patagonia of today, you have little clue what your business will look like in ten years. Enjoy the process because your business can be anything and the road there will have more peaks than valleys.
• Seeking daily adventures: I don’t know about you (actually I do…because you’re an entrepreneur…but it sounds good), but I am no good sitting at a desk day after day. I need to mix it up. I need to eat crazy foods in crazy places. I need to head on a road trip even if it’s just to a part of town I’ve never been before. It’s those daily adventures that not only keep my mind alive but, in so doing, keep my business growing.
• Regularly changing your scenery: Yvon practices Management By Absence, but ultimately his absence is only geographical and you can’t argue with his results. In fact, Patagonia wouldn’t be Patagonia if Yvon had holed himself up in a business park for the last 35 years. So, get out. Work from foreign places (literally and figuratively) and make sure your view changes often.
• Seek constant challenges: As an entrepreneur, you thrive on challenges. If you stop creating those challenges, you will stop creating opportunities. Yvon learned this in climbing Yosemite’s El Capitan, but you already know this so why fight it.
• Live at the extremes: I’ve said it in many of my posts, but it’s worth repeating…opportunities happen at the fringes and you can only see those opportunities by actually spending some time on those fringes.
• Have travel partners: Travel can get lonely so make sure you have partners and friends and travel mates…and, one of the ultimate trips is the one you embark on when you decide to take the entrepreneurial leap. So, spend time with other entrepreneurs, adventurers and inspirers.
• Constantly be filling your pack: Yvon has constantly created better and better equipment over the years to make scaling mountains more enjoyable and more possible. But, it’s the tools he constantly put in his pack as an entrepreneur that has led to his success. Sure, growing your skills and your knowledge and your tools can get heavy but your travel partners can help you handle the weight.
• Live your passions….forever and always: Yvon loves the environment. He loves to surf. He loves to climb. If you were to take any of these things away from him he would also lose his passion for Patagonia and the company would fade away. Surf in the middle of the day if that’s your passion. Read business books on a saturday night if you are inspired by business opportunity or go see a concert on Tuesday night even if you have to be at work early the next day. Don’t let those passions die and your business will have a way of staying alive too.

There is so much more to say about Yvon and adventure, but I’ll let Yvon say it in his own words by recommending that you pick up his book…Let My People Go Surfing…the name says it all.