Does the world need "tough" entrepreneurial coaches?

No.

I have, twice in the last week, listened to "haven't really been there, but have talked about it" types expound upon how they work with aspiring entrepreneurs (some of them students) and "really make them sweat."  They gleefully tell stories of their fearsome, tough reputations and their critical prowess. A couple were business coaches. And a couple were college teachers (not at Marquette!)

This seems to be some sort of virtue based upon toughening up people for the real world.  Getting them used to dealing with "Shark Tank" type investors (what a bunch of dopes) so these aspiring entrepreneurs can be prepared.

I think that I would never lie to someone about their business prospects or flatter them just to do it.  But I would also never "drill" someone just to "toughen them up."

Entrepreneurs represent the best of America.  They take risks, create opportunities, satisfy customers - the list goes on.  Entrepreneurship is what the rest of the world looks to the US for.  And for those of us who have been lucky enough to get to be around aspiring entrepreneurs, we should realize it's a privilege every single day, not a podium from which to act like a pompous windbag.  

And if my son or daughter came from from college and told me that some teacher had proposed to treat them this way, I'd be, well, perturbed and might find an inelegant way of expressing this sentiment. 

If you're an entrepreneur, expect to be treated with respect by investors, advisors, teachers, all of them. Expect also to be told the truth (not to get the snipe hunt runaround). And tell the amateur shark tank guy to take a hike. 

Comments

[Andy Fields]

I couldn't agree more. I think that sort of hazing approach is purely counterproductive. Particularly if it's done without any objectivity, just to satisfy the "tough" coach's hubris and reinforce his/her self-importance. Leave that sort of rite-of-passage style to frat boys and Drill Instructors. Unvarnished honesty is far different than being patently harsh and condescending for its own sake, in some sort of misguided effort to be like John Houseman in "The Paper Chase". Saint Augustine said "Patience is the companion of wisdom." And patient wisdom never gets you an inelegant expresssion of sentiment in return.