The Teflon Entrepreneur: How to Let Criticism Slide Off You Like an Egg – Thick Skin is Essential

Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster. One day your startup gets glowing media coverage, the next you’re fending off angry customers on social media. Handling this volatility requires developing a thick skin so criticism doesn’t throw you off course.
Receiving negative feedback is inevitable when trying bold new ideas. Not everyone will “get” your vision right away. Many disruptive entrepreneurs faced initial hostility before gaining mainstream success. Jeff Bezos was called “delusional” when he pitched Amazon. Early skeptics mocked Elon Musk’s plans for electric vehicles and reusable rockets. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel’s friends told him online payments would never take off.
While criticism can sting in the moment, overreacting risks sabotaging your own progress. Defensiveness only distracts you from executing your game plan. Losing confidence whenever faced with detractors leads to second-guessing decisions vital to moving forward. Strong founders have the conviction to stay resolute despite naysayers.
Take Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who endured intense criticism of Tesla’s production problems and cash burn as the company scaled. But Musk didn’t let the noise throw him off his mission. He focused on incremental execution, knowing his long-term vision was sound. Similarly, Airbnb’s founders persisted when investors slammed their unproven business model. They avoided getting discouraged, ultimately building global trust in home sharing.
Cultivating a thick skin allows maintaining perspective when people challenge your capability or business viability. Remind yourself that critics play a valuable role stress testing ideas. But don’t let them plant seeds of self-doubt. Staying confident in your vision sustains the determination essential for surviving entrepreneurial hardships.

Rather than resenting critics, view their feedback as an opportunity for growth. Maybe objections reveal flaws to address in your model or processes. Airbnb responded to early safety concerns by adding host verifications, reviews and insurance. Turning criticism into constructive improvements will only make your venture stronger.
A thick skin also enables turning critics into partners. Many original naysayers come around once they see traction. Investor Peter Thiel regretted dismissing Facebook after realizing his error. He became an early backer of Facebook’s former rival Snapchat, which he originally thought had no value. Converting skeptics into collaborators expands your resources and network.

The Teflon Entrepreneur: How to Let Criticism Slide Off You Like an Egg – Focus on the Big Picture

When criticism comes your way as an entrepreneur, it’s vital to stay focused on the big picture vision rather than getting bogged down in the immediate negativity. Great founders derive resilience by keeping their sights on the horizon and what they’re working to build long-term. They don’t lose momentum overpassing squalls.
Consider Elon Musk’s response when Tesla faced questions about production delays for the Model 3. At the time, skeptics said Musk had overpromised scale. But he framed setbacks as mere “speed bumps” on the road to electrifying transportation. Musk kept his focus on the ultimate goal of accelerating sustainable energy, not short-term manufacturing issues. This mindset propelled Tesla through rocky periods to its current position as the world’s most valuable automaker.

Or examine Airbnb founder Brian Chesky’s attitude to the COVID-19 crisis. As travel froze in early 2020, Airbnb’s bookings and revenues plummeted. The situation looked dire, forcing layoffs. But Chesky rallied employees to envision travel’s eventual rebound. He reframed the pandemic as a chance to strengthen Airbnb’s core hospitality and reimagine travel for the future. Keeping sights on this North Star restored morale and innovation. By summer 2020, bookings had stabilized as customers sought Airbnb’s unique spaces.
Great entrepreneurs also derive motivation by contemplating the positive impact their company will create when fully realized. While still struggling to launch his rocket company SpaceX, Elon Musk galvanized his weary staff by outlining his vision for making humanity multiplanetary. He described a future where a self-sustaining civilization on Mars ensures human survival and progress. This purpose-driven outlook drove SpaceX through its darkest financial days.
When JetBlue struggled after 9/11 undermined air travel, founder David Neeleman buoyed the company by emphasizing their mission to “bring humanity back to air travel.” Refocusing on how JetBlue’s customer experience would brighten passengers’ days through small courtesies restored passion and momentum. The airline ultimately overcame short-term shocks to thrive.

The Teflon Entrepreneur: How to Let Criticism Slide Off You Like an Egg – Consider the Source

When facing criticism as an entrepreneur, it’s crucial to consider the source and motivation behind negative comments. Understanding where detractors are coming from allows filtering useful feedback from tangential noise. Not all criticism is equally valid or offered in good faith.
For disruptive startups challenging the status quo, skepticism often comes from incumbents feeling threatened. When Airbnb began making inroads in the lodging market, hotel chains dismissed its model as unsafe and unproven. Established players will defend their turf rather than acknowledge potential disruption. Expecting them to immediately grasp your vision is unrealistic.

Instead, tune out interested parties reflexively resistant to change. Focus on feedback from objective experts or early adopters without agendas. Their input gives the truest read on execution issues or product-market fit flaws to address.
Also examine if criticism stems from genuine well-intentioned concern. When Tony Xu launched DoorDash, his mother fretted over her son abandoning a promising engineering career for risk-taking. Her advice came from care, not doubt in Tony’s skills. Understanding her protective instincts allowed Tony to both reassure his mother and remain undeterred.
However, some envy-driven criticism aims to cut you down rather than provide constructive guidance. As Tesla succeeds, short-sellers and partisan groups critique Elon Musk out of antipathy more than analysis. Their barbs reveal agendas unrelated to Tesla’s mission.
Similarly, avoid overreacting to random “haters” who simply dislike anything gaining buzz. When Popeyes launched its popular chicken sandwich in 2019, a chorus of social media detractors slammed its hype without even trying it. Debating faceless online aggressors is pointless. Their negativity says more about them than your idea.

The Teflon Entrepreneur: How to Let Criticism Slide Off You Like an Egg – Don’t Take it Personall

When facing criticism as an entrepreneur, it’s vital not to take negative feedback personally or let it shake your self-confidence. Attacks on your ideas are not indictments on your worth or capability. Maintaining perspective allows you to remain objective when responding to challenges or skepticism.
Great founders have thick skin that prevents criticism from wounding their self-esteem. They view critiques as simply feedback on execution, not their intelligence or character. This detachment provides psychological safety to experiment boldly without fearing condemnation.

Consider how Elon Musk responds to the constant criticism Tesla faces over quality issues or missed targets. He rarely takes barbs from naysayers to heart or responds defensively. Musk stays grounded in his larger mission of accelerating sustainable energy. He knows skeptical perspectives come with the territory of disrupting an industry. Getting defensive only distracts focus from doing the work.
Jeff Bezos exemplifies similar unflappability amidst harsh criticism of Amazon’s market power. He ignores antitrust arguments framing Amazon as a predatory monopolist. Bezos realizes market dominance naturally stirs critics. But he stays focused on customers, telling staff: “Just keep moving forward.” Avoiding self-doubt allows Bezos to keep executing despite the noise.

The same went for Steve Jobs, who weathered intense backlash for initially excluding Flash support on iPhones. Critics slammed the decision as arrogant and driven by self-interest. But Jobs simply considered Flash unstable for mobile devices. He avoided internalizing attacks by staying centred in delivering the best user experience.

During Airbnb’s early days, constant investor skepticism of its unorthodox model often stung personally, says CEO Brian Chesky. He admits taking early criticism to heart, losing confidence when VCs lambasted his approach. However, Chesky eventually realized he needed emotional insulation. He learned not to judge himself by others’ doubts in order to preserve creative freedom.

The Teflon Entrepreneur: How to Let Criticism Slide Off You Like an Egg – Feedback is a Gift

Though criticism may sting in the moment, ultimately feedback is a valuable gift for entrepreneurs. Negative responses provide crucial market data to refine your product or strategy. The best founders view critics as free focus groups for stress testing their ideas to uncover flaws or blind spots. Rather than ignoring or resenting critics, leverage their input to steer improvements.

Consider how Richard Branson used feedback to pivot Virgin Records from an unsuccessful discount record shop into a chart-topping indie label in the 1970s. When Branson’s discounted prices angered competitors and attracted unfavorable press, he initially felt persecuted. But he eventually realized the criticism signaled an opportunity to try a new tack.

Branson rebranded his shop as Virgin Records, focusing on nurturing unsigned acts looking for a big break. He used early naysayers as a compass pointing to this unmet need in the market. By embracing feedback, Branson uncovered a niche that became Virgin’s foundation. As he later reflected, “If we hadn’t been criticized early on, we may have lumbered on for years doing the wrong thing.”

Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas took a similar approach in developing his fast food franchise in the 1960s. When early customers complained about greasy burgers at Wendy’s first outlet, Thomas listened attentively. He realized the negative feedback presented a chance to differentiate Wendy’s through higher quality ingredients. Thomas overhauled menus to feature fresh beef patties and crispy fries, helping propel Wendy’s expansion nationwide.

Laser-focused listening to critique provided the blueprint for many entrepreneurial success stories. After a disastrously glitchy debut, video game developer Niantic leveraged user frustration to rebuild Pokémon Go into the highest grossing mobile game ever. Tesla responded to early Model 3 production flaws flagged by owners to refine manufacturing. Not dismissing criticism allowed both companies to level up execution.
In fact, highly successful founders like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos emphasize obsessing over negative reviews to drive improvement. Bezos instituted the empty chair meeting at Amazon where executives imagine the loudest critic sitting there, forcing them to address weaknesses. Gates once claimed he could recite verbatim the harshest review of every Microsoft software release, using criticism as motivation.

The Teflon Entrepreneur: How to Let Criticism Slide Off You Like an Egg – Stay Confident in Your Vision

Cultivating an unshakable confidence in your vision as an entrepreneur is essential to persevering through the doubt and scrutiny startups face. When skeptics question if your unconventional idea can work or mock its viability, belief in your long-term potential allows weathering short-term storms. Great founders derive inner strength by maintaining fierce conviction that their innovations will reshape industries, even when few others grasp their breakthrough potential early on.

Consider how Amazon founder Jeff Bezos remained staunchly confident that online commerce would revolutionize shopping despite the prevailing skepticism Amazon faced in the 1990s dot-com bubble era. When experts called the very idea of buying books online crazy, Bezos held firm in his vision to make Amazon “the most customer-centric company on earth.” He withstood derision by relying on his own informed instincts about forthcoming disruption of retail. Bezos’ resolute faith positioned Amazon to dominate when ecommerce adoption exploded.
Or examine how Elon Musk’s absolute certainty in Tesla’s capacity to prove electric vehicles viable spurred persevering despite constant questions. In 2008, most scoffed at the idea of a high-end EV startup when major automakers were retreating from electric cars. But Musk’s conviction in Tesla’s potential to spark an EV revolution remained unshakeable. This self-belief drove Musk’s relentless work ethic and business building to turn Tesla into the world’s highest valued automaker.

The founders of Airbnb also refused to waver in their faith that empowering locals to host travelers looking for affordable accommodations would transform travel. For a decade, the media portrayed Airbnb’s model as at best quirky, at worst dangerous. VCs passed because they failed to recognize Airbnb’s latent scale. But CEO Brian Chesky held tight to his authentic desire to “create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.” This self-belief helped Airbnb thrive by sticking to its hospitality roots.
True visionaries like Musk, Bezos and Chesky convey unflinching confidence in their ideas through high-stakes decisions. Bezos defied advisers pleading with him not to risk Amazon’s survival on expanding into hardware with Kindle and AWS cloud computing. His certainty these bets would pay off drove full commitment. Musk invested his last $35 million in Tesla when the 2008 financial crisis nearly wiped out his companies. He refused to dwell on disastrous short-term optics.