Is "chutzpah" important to entrepreneurial success?

I found this definition of "chutzpah"....

"A Yiddish term with classic usages such as gall, brazen, nerve, or a brassiness that is intrusive and offensive."

And also....

"Chutzpah usually denotes that someone is doing or saying something that is not appropriate to do or say."

Now, what do you think.... Is having some "chutzpah" important to entrepreneurial success, do you think?

Hope I've helped to make us think with this post, now I hope you're enjoying your days and your family as well as your business activities! (It's good to keep a balance and remember what's important.... :) )

- Dien

> I found this definition of
> "chutzpah"....

> "A Yiddish term with classic usages
> such as gall, brazen, nerve, or a brassiness
> that is intrusive and offensive." And
> also....

> "Chutzpah usually denotes that someone
> is doing or saying something that is not
> appropriate to do or say."

I'd likew to add these other definitions...

[*]: aggressive boldness or unmitigated effrontery; "he had the audacity to question my decision" [syn: {audacity}, {audaciousness}, {hutzpa}]
[*]supreme self-confidence : NERVE, GALL
synonym see TEMERITY


And for TERMERITY: TEMERITY suggests boldness arising from rashness and contempt of danger "had the temerity to refuse". AUDACITY implies a disregard of restraints commonly imposed by convention or prudence "an entrepreneur with audacity and vision". HARDIHOOD suggests firmness in daring and defiance "admired for her hardihood". EFFRONTERY implies shameless, insolent disregard of propriety or courtesy "outraged at his effrontery". NERVE, CHEEK, GALL, and CHUTZPAH are informal equivalents for EFFRONTERY "the nerve of that guy" "has the cheek to call herself a singer" "had the gall to demand proof" "the chutzpah needed for a career in show business".

Now, what
> do you think.... Is having some
> "chutzpah" important to
> entrepreneurial success, do you think?

Yes. There will ALWAYS be someone somewhere who is upset about what you're doing.

Some will be your competitors... specially if you're doing a better job of servicing the customers than they are.

Others will be upset because they're the eternal "it's not fair" whiners. And then there are the jealous and envious (bad envy that results in wishing you bad, not good envy which is inspiring).

And there's also those whose confort zones get upset.

All will be upset with you for their own reasons.

But just think... where would we, the world, be if not for the chutzpah of the ancients? We'd still be living on a flat planet.

Michael Ross.

The classical definition of chutzpah is the tale
of the kid that kills his parents and then begs
the court for leniancy because he's an orphan.

My favorite example of someone with chutzpah is
Muhommed Ali (sorry 'bout the spelling). Anyone
who could get away with the stuff he did, you got
to love.

And that, I think, is the key to chutzpah....while
being abrasive, etc, be loving and charming at
the same time.

Hi Michael,

Wow, excellent definitions!

> AUDACITY implies a disregard
> of restraints commonly imposed by convention
> or prudence "an entrepreneur with
> audacity and vision".

I liked this one the best.... I guess this is what I have in mind when I think of "chutzpah".... it's "audacity". Not being constrained by convention.

Or looking at convention, and blatantly disregarding it!

I must admit, I have a kind of respect for those who do that.... As well as keeping life interesting, it helps to create opportunities for them.... They don't mind "breaking the rules" of convention. I could probably reel off a number of examples....

Warren Buffett has some "audacity" when you think about it. When everyone was buying tech stocks, he completely kept away - and he was proven right.

When everyone is doing technical analysis and daytrading, he talks about how sometimes it's better to put your money in and leave it alone!

Conventional wisdom says that a multi-billionaire should live in a mansion with a fleet of exotic cars; Buffett lives in an ordinary house and drives a normal car, despite being probably in the top 5 of the world's richest people.

He's an audacious guy. :)

I think Richard Branson, the head of the "Virgin" group of companies (like Virgin Atlantic Airlines, Virgin Megastores, and whole slew of other businesses), is a pretty audacious guy. When he was in his mid-teens and still in school, his first business venture was called "Student" magazine. Here's what he did to organize the magazine (in his own words)....

There was so much to organise. I began to set up an office in my study at school and asked the headmaster for a telephone in my room he unsurprisingly refused. As a result I had to make telephone calls from a call box, but I quickly discovered a useful trick: if I called up the operator and told her that the machine had taken my money but my call had been disconnected, I was able to get a free call. As well as a free call, I was able to avoid the telltale 'pip pip pip' as the coins went in. Better still, the operator sounded like a secretary: 'I have Mr Branson for you.'

I drew up lists and lists of people to call, and slowly worked my way down them. Most of them rejected the idea of paying for advertising in an unpublished magazine, but gradually I began to find ways of attracting their attention. I would call up National Westminster Bank and tell them that Lloyds Bank had just taken out a full-page advertisement; would they like to advertise alongside Lloyds Bank? Student would be Britain's biggest magazine for young people, I added. I called up Coca-Cola and told them that Pepsi had just booked a big advertisement but that the back page was still free. I called up the Daily Telegraph and asked them whether they would prefer to advertise before or after the Daily Express. Another tack was to ask an innocuous question that they couldn't easily deny: 'Are you interested in recruiting the highest-calibre school-leavers and university graduates?' No personnel manager would ever admit that they were looking for mediocre recruits. 'Then we're publishing just the magazine for you . . .'

My schoolwork was going from bad to worse, but I was giving myself a wonderful lesson in confidence-building. Had I been five or six years older, the sheer absurdity of trying to sell advertising to major companies, in a magazine that did not yet exist, edited by two fifteen-year-old schoolboys, would have prevented me from picking up the phone at all. But I was too young to contemplate failure.

Quoted from "Losing My Virginity" - Richard Branson's autobiography. See http://www.xtracts.com/program/branson.htm for a longer excerpt....

What Branson did was like a definition of audacity! I admire these kind of people.... :)

And Richard Branson's "stunts" to promote his various businesses are further examples of audacity in action.... :) "Convention" says a CEO should wear a dark suit and be ultra-serious; Richard Branson prefers to wear jeans, and do various crazy stunts to get free publicity for his new businesses!

> Some will be your competitors... specially
> if you're doing a better job of servicing
> the customers than they are.

Yes, I've come to the same conclusion.... And the more successful you are, the more competitors you will probably get....

> Others will be upset because they're the
> eternal "it's not fair" whiners.
> And then there are the jealous and envious
> (bad envy that results in wishing you bad,
> not good envy which is inspiring).

> And there's also those whose confort zones
> get upset.

> All will be upset with you for their own
> reasons.

> But just think... where would we, the world,
> be if not for the chutzpah of the ancients?
> We'd still be living on a flat planet.

Yes, I agree with you Michael!

I like to think I have a degree of "audacity" or "chutzpah" - at least directed in certain directions. I don't think I would ever get anywhere without it, to be honest.... It's that thing that gives you a bit of an edge. You're willing to do some things that others won't, to take some risks that others won't touch.... My risks are very calculated, but I do take them.... :)

Thanks Michael, that was an excellent post! :)

- Dien

Hi Joe,

> The classical definition of chutzpah is the tale
> of the kid that kills his parents and then begs
> the court for leniancy because he's an
> orphan.

That sure sounds like quite a dose of chutzpah to me! :)

> My favorite example of someone with chutzpah is
> Muhommed Ali (sorry 'bout the spelling). Anyone
> who could get away with the stuff he did, you got
> to love.

Yes, he sure had a lot of chutzpah!

How's this for a quote....

"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark." - Muhammad Ali

But certainly part of what people love about Ali is the courage of his convictions, despite what others might think of him....

"I am America. I am the part you won't recognize, but get used to me. Black, confident, cocky -- my name, not yours. My religion, not yours. My goals, my own. Get used to me." - Muhammad Ali

Yet he sure knew the true principles of success....

"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill." - Muhammad Ali

This last quote is incredibly true.... Yes, skill, intelligence, knowledge, it all helps. But I believe "will" is what counts the most, without that, the rest is next to useless....

A man died and went to heaven. In heaven, one of the others there asked him, "Would you like to meet the greatest general in history?"

"Sure, I'd love to!" he replied....

"Okay.... there he is!"

The man gasped. "Hang on, he can't be the greatest general in history.... He just lived down the street from me," the man said. "He was a mechanic!"

"Ah, yes, true, he was a mechanic.... But if he had the opportunity, he would have been the greatest general in history!"

And of course, the way you make those opportunities is by having the will to do what it takes to get there.... :)

Thanks Joe, I always get passionate about Ali!

Cheers :)

Dien

Hi all,

The little boy who told everyone the King had nothing on...now that's chutzpah!

To me, it's doing the RIGHT thing...even if it means getting your head knocked off.

It's doing what no one else would do because they didn't even think it could be done.

I love people who tell me, about an idea I have, "It can't be done"!

I don't say a word- I just proven them wrong.

I think chutzpah is a brother to, or at least a close cousin of 'character'.

When someone does something good...and right we say that person has "character'.

When someone does something outreageous and wild, we say he IS a 'character'!

Put a little chutzpah in your life!

- Dave


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