Lou has had a fabulous career in baseball. But stuck between investors who fund the lowest payroll team in baseball and a young, losing team, Lou is very frustrated and thinking of quitting as manager of the Devil Rays. He knows what his old boss Steinbrenner is spending – almost 7 times as much on the Yankees payroll.
Every entrepreneur has been there at some point. You get mad with your team (especially your VP of Sales) and your board (in my start up, one of our competitors had 6 times as much funding). They think you are unreasonable, selfish. But you cannot leave easily - you feel loyal to your team, guilty about walking away from all the sunk effort and money. Also, hope springs eternal – may be we can sweep the Red Sox next month, may be next season. Few understand what you are going through. There are few rule books. Black is a very dark shade of gray, white a very light shade of gray.
Here’s to Lou and all the lonely entrepreneurs out there. Few in the crowds will ever feel that joy of victory and the pain of defeat as you have over your career. They have never set foot on the field, let alone get ejected for making your point. You know, no matter what others think, no matter what your decision, you have given it your all.
