Before I extrapolate on this topic of immense significance for any aspiring entrepreneur, here is a wonderful quote by Calvin Coolidge that sums it well.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

For any ambitious professional, who genuinely wants to succeed either as a successful entrepreneur or climb the ladder in a big corporation, persistence and determination are a must. Persistence, in my view, is the innate ability to keep going and keep pushing yourself to get to your finish line despite many unforeseen challenges one may encounter as well as it may just seem completely out of reach at times. It's the ability to be really tenacious for accomplishing your final goal whether being able to sell your company or taking your startup through an initial public offering thereby rewarding all the shareholders including employees and investors to reap the benefits by taking the risk along with you, betting on you and your ability to persist to make it finally happen. Always remember that good things come to those who wait. As an entrepreneur and advisor to startups over the years, here are four key take away (4KTA) points that could help you to think things differently as you traverse through your entrepreneurial journey.

1. Perfect Moment– Being in Silicon Valley, I come across a lot of talented and smart engineers who talk about pursuing their dream of starting a company. But when I ask them why they don't start now, the typical answer is that this is not the perfect moment. Now remember, there is nothing like a perfect moment to start a company. I am sure you often hear from lots of venture capitalists that downturns are the perfect time to start a business. You can hire talented engineers and get other resources easily and inexpensively. You don't have to compete with many other startups or large companies as number of them are downsizing or right sizing their resources during those times. At the same time, when times are good, you will hear that this is the perfect time to start a company. You can see what I am getting at. Keep in mind that you may not have answers to all the pieces at any time like having enough market data; having everything figured out in terms of product and technology viability; the acceptable price points by the customer and total available market opportunity. The bottom-line: "This is your perfect moment.Just get going now and Do it!"

2. Perfect Opportunity– Similar to the first element above, opportunities are not going to be handed over to you by someone. They won't simply drop in your lap. Nothing worthwhile ever happens that way. You need to be alert, open-minded, and ferociously curious. Keep searching for it within your domain expertise. As you delve deeply into your area of expertise, discuss about the challenges that your industry friends, suppliers and customers may be facing, you may uncover those obvious opportunities that others just overlook. Grab and run with one of these opportunities. My experiences in startups are similar in nature.Start with one idea, develop a prototype and end up enhancing it to finally releasing a fully functional product which is entirely different. However, it won't have seen the light of the day, had my co-founders and I not jumped into it. We didn't wait for that perfect moment or perfect opportunity.