When life imitates art: the parallels between The Martian, science and global business expansion

Aside from Hamlet, few people want to read or view a tragedy. But in reality, there are a lot of mini tragedies that shape a successful leader. Anything from working 20+ hour days, seven day weeks, remortgaging a home, watching a project fail, cutting back on time with family and friends, to questioning your business model.

Talk to enough entrepreneurs and you’ll realize many personal tales of success come with dark, unfortunate or painful moments. All of which serve as character-building hardships that influence an efficacious entrepreneur, their perspective and how he or she approaches and overcomes challenges (there will be many), and the sustainability of their company.

While controversy around “The Martian” winning a Golden Globe for Best Comedy or Musical warranted the Hollywood Foreign Press tochange the rules around category entry, there are certain tips that can help entrepreneurs change their game and remain successful when things get hard, messy, depressing or ugly.

Expect hard knocks

Recall the scene in “The Martian” when the team of astronauts is hit by an unpredicted storm and they have to abort their mission on Mars. Imagine the years of planning and preparation that went into the mission, only to see it derailed by something unexpected and beyond one’s control. This will happen.

 Every entrepreneur has plans on how to achieve success in the quarter, year or within their five-year plan. Many are taught to prepare forthe unexpected, and will have plans on how to mitigate risk.

 What’s missing from an entrepreneur’s tool kit (and something they don’t prepare you for in school), is a plan to deal with the hardest, unexpected hits on your company, and how to cope emotionally.

 Whether that involves getting caught in the crossfire of a broader industry challenge, spending years trying to break into a new market only to have it halted by a person in power, or having your company’s databases hacked. There’s no way to predict the unknown, but drawing on the right resources and experiences can make a difference between a start-up’s life or death.

 Is this the end?

Emotionally, you may feel gutted like Matt Damon’s character Mark Watney when he is presumed dead and left on a planet to exist alone following an unexpected blow. Without giving out too many spoiler alerts, he finds many short-term wins. A snack surplus, disco beats and necessary supplies in unexpected places.

Fast forward to the scenes where the novelty has worn off and resources are noticeably limited. Watney’s frozen feet and depressed mood beautifully illustrate what even the most veteran entrepreneurs feel like during the toughest times. 

Yet true leaders prevail through the darkest hour. As Watney demonstrates, a bit of science (adequate research and planning) with an unrelenting can-do attitude will help entrepreneurs overcome those hard times, even if they last a few years, on the journey to success.

Sometimes you have to deal with sh*t

Whether you want to grow a potato, colonize Mars or grow your company’s user base to billions of unique users around the world, you’re going to have to roll-up your sleeves and get a bit messy.

 Watney’s positivity and botanist training led him to dissect and tackle bigger problems, such as how to create a food source. Additionally, it figuratively and literally demonstrates that sometimes you have to deal with sh*t to get out of it.

 Each milestone – new country or vertical market you enter or new audience segment you reach – will come with its own unique set of challenges, migraines, and taxing demands on your time and attention. You’ll need to find the right balance of technology and resources to make it work sustainably – and there’s no such thing as ‘Miracle Grow’ for companies.

 Building something great takes time

Novice entrepreneurs often have grand visions for international expansion. Few comprehend the time it may take the company to get to the next stage of growth, or the level of personal commitment it may require of the entrepreneur to live in a different country for a few years, especially if it may require uprooting the whole family.

 Consider again the adequate parallel to this film and business when it comes to dealing with sh*t. Any customer, partner, prospect or colleague needs to be nurtured. In order for any relationship, in biology or business. There needs to be an ongoing supply of stimulus, adequate resources and attention to detail to help the entity grow and thrive.

 Life is a roller coaster, enjoy the ride

Veteran entrepreneurs joke about the times they started the company out of the living room, or the time they hosted important meetings in the lobby of fancy hotels until they had their own digs. Few are forthcoming with sharing their darkest moments. However, all weathered entrepreneurs have their “battle scars” of business success.

 Seeing your company’s name in headlines and experiencing year over year growth and profitability are what Hollywood and Bollywood dreams are made of for the archetype of the successful business man or woman.

 Real-life entrepreneurs with enough years under their belt can attest that the journey to success is not without a variety of HR, IT, compliance, marketing, product or client nightmares from time to time.

 Excitement, anticipation, depression, optimism, elation, pride and gratitude are all part of the emotional roller coaster. The closer an entrepreneur is to the business, the likelihood of that roller coaster having steeper peaks and deeper valleys. It takes a tremendous toll on your psyche and emotions when things get tough - and once you’re on that roller coaster, there’s no chance to get off mid-way through

 When things get tough, recall the parallels between “The Martian” and business success

The movie “The Martian” is a wonderful depiction of personal triumph over incredibly arduous situations. More often than not, many business deals are thwarted by unexpected circumstances and we may find ourselves feeling alone, frustrated or disappointed.

 To come out on top, remain determined, pragmatic and rational. Remember when Damon’s character hears great news of his rescue team, then there’s an unexpected curve ball and he’s forced to ration out his remaining food for a substantial number of months? He doesn’t wallow too much in self-misery, but quickly adapts to re-plot his course to remain frugal, industrious and positioned for long-term success.

 To leave you with Mark Watney’s wise words to his classroom toward the end of the film, "I guarantee you that at some point, everything's going to go south on you. And you're going to say, 'This is it. This is how I end.’"

 What separates successful entrepreneurs from aspiration ones is the ability to know what to do and actually do what it takes to overcome challenges which at times, will feel out of this world.