No two successful people are the same.
But Inc's Mehdi Maghsoodnia, who has spent 20 years investing in and starting companies, came up with four common characteristics the best entrepreneurs possess.
They are:
Adventurous - "Starting a company or investing or joining a startup is like embarking on a four-week backpacking journey with enough food for one week," Meghsoodnia writes. "You have to be comfortable with uncertainty."
Patient - There are a lot of articles about startups getting 9 million unique visitors in seven months, and Facebook getting 90 million monthly pageviews two months after launch. But overnight successes aren't real. "You need to understand that the problems truly worth solving, the big industry problems, will not be wrapped up neatly in a year or two," Meghsoodnia writes. "It may take decades, and you will almost definitely have to make many adjustments to your initial vision."
Not perfectionists - People who are great at one thing may struggle more at entrepreneurship. Founders have to be adaptable. They need to work on a lot of things at once, and try a number of solutions without knowing the outcomes. "Embrace the messiness," Meghsoodnia writes.
Salesy visionaries. If you can't sell your company's vision, you'll never get investors, employees or customers. Meghsoodnia says the best entrepreneurs are also their company's best sales people. "Everyone wants to hear about your passion from you," he says. "Cut out the jargon and speak to the heart of the matter."
For more advice about what makes a successful entrepreneur, head over to Inc.
SEE ALSO: Why Some Startups Fail And Others Succeed: 10 Fascinating Harvard Findings
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