Matt Browne: A winner who will ultimately succeed in anything he chooses to pursue

Matt Browne posted a blog today that should be read by anyone who has ever had any entrepreneurial inclination. Period.

http://mattbrowne.com/blog/failure/


For those of you who only have a few minutes to scan this, or who suffer from some form of A.D.D., I'll paraphrase his story:


Matt recently closed a company called Integral Impressions, a company he owned that was profitable for the better part of five years. II developed several proprietary software products and offered custom content management, among other services. When the economy went south last year, affecting many of his most valuable clients, II was unable to recover. After a botched investment/merger attempt, Matt's only option was a fire sale of the company assets, including his software "babies", for a few drops in the bucket of what the company owed. He was left unable to pay many of his contributers. In yesterday's blog, he offered a public apology and some insight into the personal trials and emotional fallout caused by the events of the last year.


So why is Matt Browne a winner?


Here's the punchline: Matt Browne is 29 years old.


Or, as most guys under 30 would say, Matt Browne is 29 FREAKING YEARS OLD.

Over lunch with me this week, Matt revealed his reason for starting the company in the first place. Out of high school, he joined a startup team that ended up as a multi-million dollar success. Of course, none of that was his, so he decided to take advantage of what he'd learned about launching a business and do it again for himself. At 29, he has already planned, acted, profited, erred and learned on the scale that many successful people have... usually at around twice his age. So based on what he's done so far - do the math, people - Matt will accomplish more than most people just by virtue of average life expectancy.

Why am I so sure? I've got three reasons right here.

REASON #1 MATT BROWNE IS A WINNER: AWARENESS

People like Matt are just like anyone else - they fail. They make bad decisions; they act poorly; they make errors in judgment. However, what separates high achievers is that they are acutely aware of these occurrences and learn from them quickly. They're adept at observing patterns. In fact, they've usually bypassed, sometimes without even knowing it, many introductory pitfalls and logical errors, just through observation of others. In essence, they forget that they've passed with flying colors the first 42 tests and gotten farther in the lesson than anyone else, and it really hits them hard when they don't pass the bar the first time. Never mind that most people don't even make it through law school to begin with.

Unfortunately, the other separating factor of high achievers is that they stumble in such large proportions. They take really, really big bites, and while they usually grow, sometimes they choke. Or worse...

In his case, Matt is decidedly aware of exactly where he went wrong. He can succinctly detail all "woulda shoulda coulda" points and where each error in judgment struck, along with its corresponding repercussions. He is currently haunted by guilt over those errors. When the emotion clears, however, he will see that what he really holds is another 5 pieces to the big puzzle. They just came with a big price tag.

REASON #2 MATT BROWNE IS A WINNER: CHARACTER

In his blog entry, Matt acknowledges - briefly - that he is not entirely to blame for the fate of his company and those affected by its demise. The inference is that there were other people involved in key decisions and ill-fated endeavors, and of course there is the economy. One could also surmise that several clients who may have defaulted on large payments could have planned their own financials better, in anticipation of the downturn.

However, you will not find anything published by Matt blaming anyone but himself for anything. He publicly acknowledges those things that he wishes he would have done differently. He openly regrets the outcome of Integral Impressions and the effects of its failure as an enterprise. He shares his personal frustration and disappointment. He does not post rants about the market tanking, nor does he point a finger at clients, colleagues, the government or anyone else remotely responsible for the way things turned out. He owns it. With that strength of character, he will always have - despite a small percentage of fallout from people looking out for #1 - a diehard following of loyal contributors, colleagues and clients. You can already see them coming out in the comments on today's blog.

REASON #3 MATT BROWNE IS A WINNER: VISION

I'll just come out and say it - most guys under 30 can't see past their own... nose.

For most people - men and women - the 20s are a time of self-discovery. There is an inherent narcissism in the need to explore our environment and how we fit into it. It's a time to establish a personality and choose which talents and skills to focus on, develop and apply to our pursuit of happiness.

When someone's era of self-discovery involves creating and maintaining a profitable enterprise for FIVE YEARS, that someone is very special. Forget for a moment those of us who spend our first decade as adults in questionable levels of consciousness, prompting us around 29 to decide it's time to "do something". Among those who strive in the early years to establish an image and career, the nature in which we do this is typically a movement of dependence, where we get the best job we can and try to perform as well as possible for our employer. The most independent of us often carve out a niche for ourselves in the form of a department or product that represents our effort and talent, or strike out on our own as contractors with a service to offer.

In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes about the concepts of dependence, independence and interdependence. The dependent person relies on others; the independent person functions for himself. In this system of principles, the most highly evolved person is one who lives and works at an interdependent level - recognizing and utilizing the value of helping others succeed. At 29, when most guys have trouble getting a couple of buddies to help them move their furniture to a new apartment, Matt has long been maintaining relationships that have resulted in valuable resources on an international scale. He sees and understands the world at an advanced level.

And he still has ideas. The boy is not down yet - not by a long shot. The inspiration and desire to think big and make the plan work is still there, plain to anyone within 25 feet. The insight to seek guidance and the drive to improve is now heightened and getting ready for the next attempt. The knowledge of past mistakes is developing into a new set of tools. And above all, the wheels are starting to turn again. I highly recommend running like hell toward whatever he chooses to launch next.