Watching the movie “Social network” left a deep impression on me, inspiring me to be an entrepreneur as a career choice. The opportunity came during my final year in university, when a project of mine was gaining some traction and I saw the opportunity to commercialize it, and the rest was history.

As a serial entrepreneur who has started 2 companies in different locations (Kenya, UK) and currently working as a Venture Capitalist, I can attest to the conventional narrative of entrepreneurship as a path, not for the faint-hearted. However, the point of how tough it is to be an entrepreneur wasn’t communicated succinctly to the wider audience. It certainly didn’t occur to me the challenges that a start-up founder would face when I started my first company 6 years ago.

Entrepreneurship is gradually being accepted as an alternative career path for new graduates as well as mid-career professionals. The narrative of entrepreneurship allows one to change the world, impact others and empower the wider community are some of the ideological pull factors for many. Along with those ideological factors, the following are some common reasons that aspiring entrepreneurs gave when quizzed on their motivation to be an entrepreneur. 1) I’m able to be my own boss, 2) A quick way to get rich, 3) Autonomy in work, 4) Work-life balance, 5) Passion and more fulfillment at work. While they are valid reasons, and true to a certain extent, there are more to it than what it seems to be.