Knowing When to Quit

Here's a CNN article including some thoughts from Dean Kamen, inventor of the hyped-but-disastrous Segway - plus some successful things - about how hard it is for an entrepreneur to know when to quit (apropos, of course, of my series of entries on the sale of Chowhound).

Curiously, the article doesn't make note, specifically, of what a hopeless slog Kamen's Segway has become - though that is of course the context for his remarks. It's also a bit strange to see Kamen remarking on the quitting issue before he's actually called it quits.

Some good quotes:

"When to quit... is 'the toughest question there is' for any entrepreneur who survives on creativity and instinct....'It's not nearly as glamorous as people think to keep working on something and to keep hitting roadblocks and to keep going.'"

"Every entrepreneurial innovator he's ever seen shares a few characteristics. 'It's not that they're brilliant or well-educated,' Kamen said. 'They work all the time. They don't let failure demoralize or destroy them. They pick themselves up and keep going...'"

"You need to be in denial or in ignorance about the huge challenges you face," [says Guy Kawasaki]