Like most football fans the world over, I spent late Saturday night last week, glued to a screen, watching the finals of the UEFA Champions League between Liverpool and Real Madrid, arguably one of the biggest matches in professional football. That Real Madrid won 3-1 was a result that surprised nobody really, though it disappointed many. However, the two big individual stories of that night mirrored certain patterns one sees in the entrepreneurial and startup world.
Take the biggest story of the night, for example, that of the Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius. He was a goalkeeping talent who at one point was considered to be at the same level, or even better, than the similarly-hairstyled David de Gea, who is now acknowledged to be one of the best goalkeepers in European football.
But the only image that people will remember is of Karius, crying inconsolably, hands folded, apologising to Liverpool fans everywhere for two utterly improbable mistakes. He definitely did not plan for these. His coach, or investor sort of, believed that he was a better choice than Simon Mignolet, someone of comparable skill but lesser pedigree. He was just like a founder with great background and history that everyone — investors and otherwise — believes will result in unerring success.
But something as trivial as two wrong decisions can change everything. Like it did for Karius. Karius right now is being courted by a third-tier Italian club, Rimini, in all seriousness. Hopefully, he need not accept the offer, but the startup world is littered with instances of those who had to accept similar changes. Take for example, the brashest entrepreneur out of IIT Bombay, who to be fair, upended a lot of what a startup dealing with real estate could do. If Karius does end up at Rimini, we’ll all do well to remember it is no ignominy, just as a superstar of the ‘housing’ sector working at a less fancied firm is.
Now, for the other big story of that night. Gareth Bale’s first goal. It was a feat of unimaginable athleticism that had enough visual appeal to go down in history as one of the greatest ever goals in competition history. For all the cachet that Bale has, for all the cachet that the BBC (Bale Benzema Cristiano) attack formation has, Bale’s star had been waning. When he was brought on as a substitute, it felt more like a defensive move than one that is attacking. Yet, he comes on. And his first touch is a bicycle kick that goes straight into goal. The only goal of the night for Real Madrid that did not depend on Karius’ nightmare performance. A goal that reminded many of the silliness of writing talented people off. Again something that happens all too often in the startup world. Investors tend to be so obsessed with what is fresh in the entrepreneurial funnel that they completely ignore people whose ideas demonstrably work.
They say it is too wishy-washy to draw real-life analogies from sports. But as far as I care, sports keeps proving this idea wrong.
The author heads product at a mid-sized startup in the real estate space