Learning to Play the Violin Helped Me Become a Successful Startup Founder

My first career was professional concert violinist. I played for several years in an orchestra and taught violin lessons. After a few years of playing violin professionally, I enrolled in the MBA program at UC Berkeley and embarked on my career in business and as a startup founder.

One would think that the years of playing the violin had little relevance to learning to be a startup founder. Not so. My years of practice and training to play an instrument that has hardly changed since the early 1800’s turned out to be excellent training to be a successful entrepreneur.

Learning to play the violin is extremely difficult, takes superhuman patience, and is the result of a deep conviction that one can learn to do something arguably insane. Hold skinny wooden bow, scrape across a few strings, and after years of hard work, finally achieve not sounding like several angry cats having an argument.

Here are the precise points about how my violin training taught me about startups. I think you can make the connection to the relevance of founding a startup for each point.

I learned to be intolerant of mistakes but not discouraged by them.

I learned that skipping a few days of practice has permanent consequences and there is no way to make up for that lost time.

I learned that expressing passion through music doesn’t just happen because you feel passionate. It comes only after long hours of practice and intense training.

I learned that the choice of teacher has a massive impact on how far you progress. Choose wisely. If you find you have not chosen wisely, move on.

I learned that imagination is the foundation of the possible. It is much more difficult to imagine what is not there than what you’ve already seen or heard. When you make that step towards the unseen, your music becomes that much more personally meaningful, and also more convincing to others.

I learned that if I did not take care of my health, there was no way I could play my violin at peak performance. Just. No. Way.

I learned to maintain optimism even after the ongoing rejections that musicians endure as we enter competitions, try out for orchestras, and work insanely hard to promote ourselves. The number of rejections musicians face is astounding. It either makes you resilient or it destroys your confidence. Choose resilience.

I learned that being in synchrony with my ensemble is the MOST important factor for a successful performance. Not my own individual performance.

I learned that if the audience does not deeply resonate with and joyfully respond to your performance, they won’t pay to hear you. Go back to the practice room until they do.

I learned that talent can come from anywhere and be found in anyone. I played with talented musicians from every country, every culture, and every background.

I learned that bad timing can ruin everything.

Even though I have long since stopped playing the violin professionally, I still play for my own enjoyment and to share the extraordinary beauty of music with friends and the occasional audience. I always marvel that the instrument I play is the same instrument that violinists played during Beethoven’s lifetime. My violin requires no technology, no power, no complex parts. It’s primarily made of antique wood. Violin bows are still made with the hairs from the tail of a horse.

The violin will always be my teacher and reminds me that there is no substitute for daily practice and hard work. The more I practice and the harder I work, the better I can bring my passion for music to those who hear me play.

Startup founders, take note.