Facebook has just announced that they will acquire Instagram for $1B. I am sure you all know facebook but in case you never heard of Instagram bear in mind this is probably because it only exists for 6 months!

Yes, this is how much it took Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger clearly 2 passionate entrepreneurs who launched this cool photo sharing app last October. It is indeed impressive to see a start-up reaching the billion mark up in such a short time, moreover becoming facebook’s biggest acquisition yet (…or ever) which by the way… had indeed started as a photo sharing app as well!

So, what made Mark Zuckerberg put his hand so deep in his pocket buying a company that don’t even have a plan on how to generate revenue, days before facebook goes public? What else? The amazing penetration rates Instagram has reached so far. Unquestionably, people’s interest and engagement with a product is the most valuable asset a start up can own!

Now, does that mean that “the stakes” are now higher for your own venture? Should you consider the Instagram case as a benchmark? Well, it is of course advisable to keep your goals in ambitious levels BUT on the other hand never forget how much it took the world’s most valuable technology company – Apple – to become a sustainable business itself!

Both stories have nevertheless something in common: True passion to succeed!  Whether it will take 6 months or a decade for your company to succeed you will never know. But whether you are determined to succeed is something you can decide for yourself! Apparently, that’s all that matters… (see how instagram had to redefine itself)

If you’ve got a real passion for something or a good idea that think you could transform into an entrepreneurial venture don’t stuck on the “scalability issue”. Why? Simply because your judgement of scalability is based on what you know - which limits what you can imagine. 

Scalability is a very “systematic” way to look into ventures. Is a prediction based on data & facts that are useful for managers, business analysts, investors and all kind of corporate thinking folks.

Successful entrepreneurs on the other side tend to be taking a more “artistic” approach into things. The game is won if you can invent your way forward rather than predict it.

Take as an example someone having a passion in photography. How scalable can something like this become? If we were to judge how far can a photographer go we would base our prediction on her talent and the hours she could put into it. Regardless how talented she is, her talent is not transferable to others so she cannot employ more people to do the work in order to maximise her business and her work capacity is limited to a maximum of 24h a day. So there’s a scalability issue here…  

But is photography just about taking pictures or is it also about optimizing photo cameras? Advancing the way photo classes should run? Writing the next best seller book on photography? Creating a better photo sharing online platfrom? Re-inventing the whole photograph industry?

Sky is not the limit… Sky is just a limit…

The best thing about getting into a new year is that it provides a great milestone to review where you stand in life and think where you want to head. When it comes to aspiring entrepreneurs it is the best time to make the ultimimum resolution: start a business.

Of course, starting a business takes a lot more than a new year’s resolution but indeed, getting into the right mindset is probably one of the most crucial aspects. So trying to add into this task (getting you in the right mindset) here are a few reasons why 2012 is a good time to start:

Environment is more favourable for SMEs and Start Ups…

You may think that the global economic crisis is a reason not to start a business however it is generally true that SME and Start-Ups are less impacted from this volatile environment that is highly affecting large organizations. Smaller business are undeniably more flexible to adapt in this new world having the advantage of steering the wheel where the wind is blowing faster than their big competitors …therefore your chances of surviving (not to mention attracting the attention you need from the investment community) are higher.

The myth of job security in larger organizations has been busted… 

More than anything else we all realized how fragile our current economic system was and how easy it finally was even for the biggest companies to get out of business overnight. That really changed our appreciation of having a job in a big organization, which was perceived to be a safer workplace in economic terms, moreover sometimes justifying a relatively lower annual salary for that reason. The new generation of talent will be more effective to make career choices on the oxymoron basis of sustainability through risk-taking decisions …thus your chances of attracting great talent willing to get in an adventure with you are better.

You have less to lose yourself…

If not the greatest of all forces to at least start (not necessarily sustain) a business is the one coming from the basic need of financial survival. In a world where the so called comfortable middle-classed population is destined to get out of comfort the triggers to react are more than ever. If you were asking a professional whether he’d like to have his own business almost 9 out of 10 would tell you that they have considered this, however never made that step for reasons that if you really analyzed them will end up being ‘comfort of being where I am today’. Why risking to fly staright to the top of a mountain if you can hike up there? So now that the path to the top has become a rocky and dangerous walk learning to fly seems less risky…so if not now, when?

What is your definition of success? Money, fame, wisdom, family?

What is really interesting about this question is the fact that every single one of us has his own general definition for success however have not truly defined what success look like for himself. Because success has some unique characteristics that it is absolutely possible to customize it and therefore make it achievable for you to succeed as long as you are honest to yourself.

Success is an idea, and therefore it can take any form and shape its owner wants to give it. It also means that its price is related to a person’s subjective appreciation of its worth. If success for you is making millions through your business it doesn’t mean that one cannot be successful by making just a  living working for you. Every person has a different worldview and therefore different aspirations in life. If you can figure out what you’d love to do in life and what would make you feel happy then you can draw down a path and go for it. Then bear in mind that…

Success is a journey, not a destination. And actually an endless one… but please try to enjoy the milestones! What is very well embedded in our human nature is that we tend to re-evaluate life aspirations based on our current status. So if success for you once seemed to be graduating from your law school it later transforms into becoming a well known lawyer, then the best in your discipline to even end up being the best in history! That’s actually the beauty and the curse of success. You can always be more successful than you were before but you will never become as successful as you could ever become! That’s fine as long as you can take some breaks down the road to enjoy what you have achieved so far cause…

Success is a feeling you experience and not a badge you can carry over with you. You can of course take pride for being successful because someone else sees or thinks that for you but unless you can really feel it there is no value to it. So it is up to you to grant yourself as a successful individual at some point and even if others don’t agree with you it is just because they have a different idea about success or have re-evaluated their aspirations for you. Again, make sure you are honest to yourself and that you have achieved what you had in mind.

That’s all it takes to succeed.