EEE 444
Professor Torrens
The golden age of entrepreneurship is happening now and becoming trendier than ever.
The 21st century has transformed the definition of entrepreneurship from simply establishing a
from all walks of life are immersing themselves into this new promising gateway of
entrepreneurship. From disrupting the status quo and pushing the world forward to simply
stepping out of that comfort zone to do something unexpected, entrepreneurship has become a
navigable road to success for many. However, some have found their way down this route more
there can only be one set of guidelines. If that were the case, it would be a straightforward as
finding an answer using a specific formula. Guidelines on the other hand, are principles put
Contrary to following a distinct formula, following guidelines are like taking advice:
reccommended but never mandatory and often the best type of advice, entreprenruship related or
not, comes from those who have been through similar experiences. It is under the assumption
that entreprenurial success comes from rational decision making and good judgement when its
time and again a result of learning from mistakes and getting back on your feet after running into
failure. For this reason, many entrepreneurs are doing what they wish someone had done for
themtelling their stories, acknowledging the mistakes made along the way and sharing advice
and experiences, not just with anyone, but with other aspiring entrepreneurs. Daryl Erdman,
author of the book Scar Tissue, offers expert insights, lessons on entrepreneurship and practical
advice to his readers regarding his own experience. By taking a preemptive approach throughout
the book, Erdman describes entrepreneurial success through a series of twenty-four lessons
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learned from scar tissue events a general term he coined for the unfortunate mistakes and
failures made along the way. While some of the scar tissue events are more predictable than
others, they all in one way or another, tie into an entrepreneurs potential for success. Whats
interesting about this series of events is the way in which he refers to most of them as failures.
Scar Tissue Event Twenty-One: Controlling the Ego is different in that sense. Whether Erdman
did this intentionally remains unclear. What is clear, is the controversy that lies within this
entrepreneur's confidence and willpower with their ego, it can also become a dangerous and
unavoidable trap that one can fall into. Controlling the ego is not a one-sided ordeal and for an
entrepreneur to get to the core of their motivations, striking a healthy balance between ego and
Without a healthy ego, entrepreneurs will not be in the right mindset to overcome the
everyday challenges of building a startup. Despite its negative connotation, people with a
healthy ego are adaptable to the changing tides of the business world (Mamas, 2016). The ego
acts as an inner source of empowerment for entrepreneurs. Those who lack egocentric qualities
are constraining themselves from forward thinking and boundary-pushing ideas from advancing
into revolutionary outcomes. It takes self-confidence to blaze your own path and assume all the
risk and responsibility that come with doing it alone. A healthy ego is often an advantage in
business (Silverstein, 2010). Leadership, trustworthiness and innovation are all qualities that
build off the ego. Without them, entrepreneurial success is simply unrealistic.
Entrepreneurs need to be leaders. They need to motivate those who are following to help
them turn their vision into a reality. Erdman acknowledges this by stating that the entrepreneur's
ability to be a leader is a key characteristic that leads to successfully transforming an idea and
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creating an organization that will have a life of its own (221). For this reason, egotism and
leadership go hand in hand. Leaders need to have the interpersonal skill of self-awareness to
influence others. Part of being a leader is about being the backbone that others can rely on. Not
everyone is comfortable with putting their foot down when it comes to decision-making.
However, an entrepreneur who can make decisions and take risks confidently will more
effectively prove that their idea or sense of direction has worthwhile potential. Whether its an
organization, a group of people or a new idea, entrepreneurs are always taking the lead. Without
the ego, the necessary leadership qualifications will be absent and entrepreneurs will fall short of
Speaking of trust, an entrepreneur without credibility will only make it so far in the world
of business. One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is to assume that others trust him
simply by virtue of his title. As a leader, you are trusted only to the degree that people believe
in your ability, consistency, integrity, and commitment to deliver (Horsager, 2012). These
attributes are critical to trusting others and with a little bit of ego, can stand out further. Having a
healthy ego as an entrepreneur is a beneficial attribute to have for building trust. It will become
apparent to others if an entrepreneur is trustworthy based on the level of confidence they first
convey in themselves. Egos can influence an individuals tone of voice, the way in which they
physically present themselves and certain aspects of their mentality. A tone that comes across as
hesitant or inconsistent with the message being communicated, is likely to dissuade those at the
other end of the conversation and exemplifies one way a healthy dose of ego is beneficial for an
entrepreneur. Without having the self-confidence to hold your head up high, sense the dedication
in the mind and hear the passion in the voice, an entrepreneur will fail at proving his or her trust
The last positive quality that can arise from the entrepreneurial ego is the potential for
great innovation. In todays globally competitive world, an important factor for success is the
ability to differentiate and stand out and to do that, we must innovate (Venn, 2014). In Venns
article Confidence and Creativity Equal Success, innovation can come from all different
directions but the heart of it is the ability to be creative, to experiment, to think outside the box
and take a leap of faith (Venn, 2014). Those who are innovative dont just strive to be better
without some sort of egotistic drive. For entrepreneurs, the goal to come of innovation is
disruption which is typically the result of thinking the unthinkable, imagining the unimaginable,
and deluding the delusional. Delusion is commonly perceived as a negative way of thinking in
entrepreneurship in the same intellect that having an ego comes off as a undesirable attribute.
However, a delusion can have the potential to become an innovation and from there, a reality.
similar standpoint on delusions derived from the ego. In his Entrepreneur.com article Why a
Big Ego Isn't Always Bad (2014), Toren makes the following point: A little delusion can be
good. Theres a saying, you cant argue with crazy. Some of the greatest innovations and
advances to the human experience came from some of the crazy ones. The ability to believe
in yourself requires a healthy development of ego to process your surroundings in a way that
supports your big vision (Toren, 2014). With a little assistance from the ego, the entrepreneur is
more susceptible to tap into the vast array of opportunities that lead to great innovation.
Its the question of when to draw the line between a healthy ego and too much ego, that
entrepreneurs need to stay attuned with. In any given situation, business related or not, having a
big ego is associated with arrogance and sooner or later will pose as a barrier to achieving
success. Accomplished entrepreneur and business leader Daryl Erdman covers the importance of
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keeping the ego in check as an entrepreneur throughout Scar Tissue Event Twenty-One:
Controlling the Ego. Those who dont understand when the line is being crossed and continue to
let their egos take over end up putting a constraint on the following aspects leading up to
entrepreneurial success: learning, acting on opportunities, realizing inabilities, seeking help and
achieving goals. But then there are entrepreneurs who have kept their ego under adequate control
throughout the journey leading to their success. Entrepreneur Dr. Zina Berry, a Syracuse dentist
and founder of Berry Good Dental Care, is a prime example of an individual who has
demonstrated a sense of ego syntonical control throughout the coming of her entrepreneurial
ventures. After the adversities Dr. Berry encountered at the start of her entrepreneurial quest, to
everything she has accomplished almost sixteen years later, suggests that her mounting rate of
growth wouldnt have amounted from uncertainty to success, without keeping that ego of hers in
check.
An entrepreneurs ego can get in the way of recognizing the need to learn more. What
Erdman refers to as crossing over a large chasm from uncertainty to success (218), is a stage at
which entrepreneurs are more susceptible to their super-ego and therefore become vulnerable to
making mistakes and failing. Their evolving success starts to get into their head making them
think they are past the point of needing to learn more and have all the answers themselves. The
reality of this is that they are ironically being subjected to weakness with this mindset. Its when
the entrepreneur can come to terms with their ego and can realize learning beyond what theyve
already accomplished is not a weakness but rather a forte. Without some sort of egocentric
social networking knowledge, and contextual knowledge (Erdman, 222). Dr. Berrys story
proves this as she was able to admit to herself that the skills she needed to succeed in both the
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actual dental operations and the business side were extremely different. She recognized the need
to learn more, and rather than backing down and giving up on her ambitions, she kept her
egocentric mindset balanced and continued to learn by making the most out of what she had
available to her.
opportunities. When an opportunity fronts an individual, especially those with too much ego, its
easy to overlook it. Entrepreneurs more specifically, aspire to be the reason for their own
success. This in turn makes the idea of encompassing new and improved opportunities from
anyone but themselves generally unfavorable. Daryl Erdman strongly believes that long term
success is entirely dependent on being able to make good judgement calls, therefore the
entrepreneur should recognize the critical crossroads in his/her company and then acquire the
necessary information to make knowledgeable decisions (222) and avoid an opportunity from
passing. Having too much ego will overrule any inclination to act on potential opportunities. It
was evident that Dr. Zina Berry is not the type to ignore an opportunity as she barely had
anything to start with in the first place. She proved this by advising the importance of setting
aside cash for the unforeseen opportunities in the future which goes to show that as an
entrepreneur, she always looking out for new opportunities to appear. Entrepreneurs like Dr.
Berry, who can gauge the nature of an opportunity by subtle means is a representation of what
business and life in general, choosing the course of action and making appropriate decisions are
key factors to success. Having too much of an ego can feed into two barriers of an entrepreneurs
success that tend to go hand in hand. The first is an entrepreneurs tendency to overestimate their
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abilities. In one part of Scar Tissue Event Twenty-One: Controlling the Ego, Erdman praises a
situation in which entrepreneur and founder of Medtronic, Earl Bakken, reaches a critical
crossroad in his venture and with a healthy balance of his ego, could overcome it successfully.
Once he came into recognition that as a leader, his management skills were not adequate to suit
his companys needs, Bakken took it upon himself to listen to wise counsel and appoint another
individual as his companys president to attribute the skills he lacked (Erdman, 224).
Overestimating how capable one is at something, such as running a business, has a domino effect
on the second barrier to reaching successthe reluctance of seeking help when needed. Erdman
supports this claiming that value simply cannot be created without the help of others (Erdman,
221). Overvaluing skills, knowledge and experience which turns into a unwillingness to seek
help, are negative outcomes of an unbalanced and unhealthy dosage of ego. Part of what helped
Dr. Berrys dental practice grow was her strength of character and egocentric control within that
gave her the courage to ask for help along the way rather than attempting it all on her own. To
this day, Dr. Berry still uses the same accountant for her lack of financial management skills in
addition to the range of other resources she uses such as her HR director, the office managers to
help her run and oversee different practices and even her kids for the purpose of social media
knowledge such as setting up her companys Facebook page. As Erdman says, there are
countless entrepreneurs who recognize that their skills are not necessarily applicable in the later
stages of growth (191) which is why entrepreneurs who hold back their egos have a greater
chance of success.
While one side of the argument comes to terms regarding the positive aspects of
egocentric delusions, it can also be perceived in a negative sense when an entrepreneurs super-
ego fortifies unrealistic visions and impossible goals. Erdman states that long term success is
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connected to how an entrepreneur communicates and aligns his or her goals and decisions across
the impacted constituencies, or those who they will be providing support for implementation
(222). Boasting too much ego when communicating and aligning objectives that are clearly
unrealistic, is when the entrepreneurs delusional thinking starts to become a hindrance. Unless
the delusion is taking place in the initial brainstorming stage and has the potential to bring to life
a revolutionary idea, the entrepreneur will come off as incompetent and unpractical in what they
are looking to do. This can pose as a huge risk to the impacted constituencies and therefore
reprimand their support behind implementing the entrepreneurial venture. Dr. Berrys
levelheaded mentality can be credited for a large part of her success. Her self-effacing ambitions
seemed to be kept in line with what she knew was possible. Dr. Berry never strived for anything
less than she knew she was capable of but at the same time believed she had what it takes to
establish a successful dental practice and for this reason kept her ego modest but poised as she
Dr. Zina Berry is a one of a kind entrepreneur. Whether she knew beforehand the
importance of controlling the ego when she set out to grow her business with humble
expectations or whether it was just her way of nature due to the unprivileged childhood she had
or social adversities she endured, doesnt matter in the end. What matters is how she continued to
live everyday with her head held high but not to the extent of going in over her head.
Unfortunately, this not the case for other entrepreneurs who end up learning this lesson after its
too late which Daryl Erdman attempts to forewarn in Scar Tissue lesson number twenty-one
Controlling the Ego. For the most part, the meaning of the ego is typically used in a negative
context even though there are some aspects of it that are considered positive. The controversy
is not so much one or the other, right or wrong, good or bad. Its about finding the middle ground
and striking a healthy balance of ego somewhere in between. Entrepreneurs can only be as
Works Cited:
Berry, Zina, Dr. "The Dilemma of Growth: Is Growth Good or Bad and How Will I Know?"
Entrepreneurship Debates and Dilemmas. Syracuse, NY, Whitman School of
Management. 04 Oct. 2016. Lecture.
Erdman, Daryl. Scar Tissue: Lessons from the World of Entrepreneurship. 1st ed. Minneapolis:
BRIO, 2010. Print.
Horsager, David. "You Can't Be a Great Leader Without Trust. Here's How You Build
It." Forbes Leadership Forum. Forbes.com, 24 Oct. 2014. Web.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/10/24/you-cant-be-a-great-
leader-without-trust-heres-how-you-build-it/#3d33efe37a48
Silverstein, Ray. "Is Your Ego Becoming a Liability?" Entrepreneur.com. N.p., 26 July 2010.
Web. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/207642
Toren, Matthew. "Why a Big Ego Isn't Always Bad." Entrepreneur.com. N.p., 05 June 2014.
Web. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234496
Mamas, Michael. "Ego: Is Bigger Actually Better?" Entrepreneur.com. N.p., 19 Sept. 2016.
Web. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/281170
Venn, Will. "Confidence and Creativity Equal Success." Unisa.edu.au. University of South
Australia News, 14 Oct. 2014. Web.
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/unisanews/2014/October/story2.asp