Business Motivation
(featured column)

Whales and Minnows - The Lonely Entrepreneur

by Scott Ginsberg

I was on a flight, preparing my notes for a speech. The focus of the presentation was how loneliness was an inevitable landmark of the entrepreneurial landscape, and how to manage it. A topic near and dear to my heart.

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The guy next to me couldn’t help but notice my screen. After about twenty minutes of sneaking glances, he finally asked, “So, Scott, are you writing a book?”

Headphones still in, I said yes.

Next, he asked about the topic of the book. And I said something vague like “communication.” Being on a roll with my work, I didn’t want to give an answer that garnered too many follow up questions. 

Couldn’t this guy see that I was busy trying to write about loneliness?

I went back to my work.

About thirty seconds later, he asked another question. Then another. And another. Apparently he had never met an author before and was curious about the publishing process.

Seriously. This guy really needs to leave me alone. How am I supposed to finish writing this piece about how lonely I am if –

Oh. Right.

Standing on a whale, fishing for minnows.

Smacked in the face with a healthy dose of irony. I wised up, unplugged and started talking to him.

Nice guy, actually. He was an entrepreneur himself.

And I asked him, “Where are you headed?”

“My father’s funeral.”

Oh.

And I thought I was lonely.

How many people did you go out of your way to ignore last week?

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Copyright © 2012 by Scott Ginsberg. All rights reserved.

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