There is no more effective selling tool in a company’s organization than the company’s CEO. There are also, however, few tools less effectively utilized than this one. Sadly, this squandering of potential is because of CEOs themselves.

You know who they are. Or you will.

They are the “names'' in your line of work. Those who the journalists call for a reaction when a new factory comes to town, or when one leaves. They’re the ones on the panels when you attend a conference, describing what’s to come next.

Here’s a shortcut to experience the most effective way for an entrepreneur to communicate: take a walk through midtown Manhattan, stand for a few moments in line for a ticket at Penn Station, then take a long ride in an elevator at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. Listen carefully. No better short course exists on the conveyance of critical information.

In the long history of commerce, the answer to the question, “Why does a company exist?”, has been reimagined many times. In our evermore disruptive, entrepreneur-driven age of deepening global challenges, it is time we do so again.

More than a century ago, the famous architect Louis Sullivan, sometimes called the “Father of Skyscrapers,” coined a phrase that has been a key tenet of building design ever since: “Form should follow function.” His point was that no beautiful building could ever be constructed without a design that began with its ultimate function, the essential beauty, at the center.

As we near the end of our word journey together among the final chapters of this book, I include the quotation above from the late, great Swedish diplomat Dag Hammerskjöld for three reasons: First, it’s an inspiring message, one that all entrepreneurs should reflect upon in the inevitable somber moments of their own journeys.

Of all the bromides in and around the world of business and entrepreneurship, none seem to get the attention quite the same way as this chapter’s subject — success and failure. Entrepreneurs are told to fail early and fail fast.

As I transition into the Helping section of this book, I hope it’s been a short but effective overview of both my passion for the entrepreneurial life and of the reasons I encourage the intrepid, the daring, and the world-changing to roll up their sleeves and create the Next Big Thing.

Throughout the course of writing this updated and more comprehensive second edition of The Entrepreneur’s Essentials, dramatic and historical events have been unfolding at a breathtaking pace. The Black Lives Matter protests that followed the on-camera murder of George Floyd riveted attention worldwide, as do continued and tortured debates about policing.

I first met Brett Hurt over 25 years ago. He was completing his undergraduate studies with a major in Management Information Systems at the University of Texas and was aspiring to a management consulting position. I was one of his interviewers. He tells me that it was his toughest interview and that he had no idea where he stood in my eyes. He jokes today that he is still not sure!

Brett A. Hurt is the CEO and Co-founder of data.world, the enterprise data catalog for the modern data stack. data.world’s cloud-native SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform combines a consumer-grade user experience with a powerful knowledge graph to deliver enhanced data discovery, agile data governance, and actionable insights. data.world is a Certified B Corporation® and public benefit corporation, and it is home to the world’s largest collaborative open data community with more than 1.6 million members, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500.