Reboot Podcast Episode #33 – Do I Even Have A Superpower?- with Kent Cavender-Bares

The Reboot podcast showcases the heart and soul, the wins and losses, the ups and downs of startup leadership. On the show, Entrepreneurs, CEO’s, and Startup Leaders discuss with Jerry Colonna the emotional and psychological challenges they face daily as leaders.

Episode 33 // February 18, 2016

Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.

Guests

Kent Cavender-Bares

Kent Cavender-Bares

CEO and Co-Founder, Rowbot

View Bio

Episode Description

Have you ever asked yourself the question: I wonder if we’d be better off with someone else in my role?

In this podcast, a listener, Kent Cavender-Bares from Rowbot comes to Jerry with a question a similar question about his superpower:  “What if my deep integrity, my commitment to simply telling how it is, is the reason we’re unable to fundraise?  Do I even have a Superpower? Wouldn’t Rowbot, be further along if someone else was leading?”  Jerry and Kent explore the double edge of a superpower, and how the path through his challenges may lie in a new set of questions: How can I be even more like Kent?  How can I embrace my superpower? How can I believe in myself?  And why is that so damned important?

Kent Cavender-Bares on Twitter

Show Highlights

Top Quotes:

“My background in science drilled into my head for years that you get rewarded for presenting things as they are and then drawing connections, and you don’t getting rewarded for over-selling.” – Kent Cavender-Bares 

“A hardware company requires a lot of capital to get to serious revenue.” – Kent Cavender-Bares 

“There’s a little voice in the back of my mind wondering if we’d be funded right now if I were going about this a different way, or if I was a different person.” – Kent Cavender-Bares 

“I am who I am, so I have to accept that.” – Kent Cavender-Bares 

“I am trying to help people realize that the totality of who they are and the character structure of who they are is by definition neither good nor bad. It just is.” – Jerry Colonna 

“It’s how we approach our own sensibility about ourselves that increases our own suffering. It increases our own sense of inadequacy.” – Jerry Colonna 

“We all know we are all inadequate.” – Jerry Colonna 

“If we didn’t think we were inadequate then we would be up on some pedestal.” – Kent Cavender-Bares 

“Why can you give love to your children, but not to yourself?” – Jerry Colonna 

“People trust me because if I say I’m going to do something I do it.” – Kent Cavender-Bares 

“I can be incredibly convincing and evangelizing if I believe in something.” – Jerry Colonna 

“Always present yourself as you are, even more than you are doing now.” – Jerry Colonna 

“Sell your belief.” – Jerry Colonna 

“Sustainably feeding the planet is at stake.” – Kent Cavender-Bares

“I often speak about how entrepreneurs are intriguing to me because they are pathologically optimistic.” – Jerry Colonna

“A lot of entrepreneurs speak and connect to the deeper sense of purpose.” – Jerry Colonna

“Most smart investors know you are probably going to fail.” – Jerry Colonna 

“The investor that wants a guaranteed return on investment buys US Treasury Bonds.” – Jerry Colonna

“Do not worry about not being the entrepreneur cut from some other cloth. Be yourself.” – Jerry Colonna 

“You may need to have a different plan, and that is a part of life.” – Jerry Colonna 

“In my 25 years of investing I have never met a company that executed every step in their business plan.” – Jerry Colonna 

“The pivot is the norm.” – Jerry Colonna 

“Take care of your family, take care of yourself, and take care of your ethics and values.” – Jerry Colonna 

“Challenging moments are the moments in which a leader actually emerges.” – Jerry Colonna 

“Work is a pilgrimage of spirituality.” – Jerry Colonna