“Start-ups fail for a lot of different reasons, but one I see repeatedly is ego. It presents as a dangerous sense of self-importance. Or the entrepreneur thinks they are the smartest person in the room who knows better than anyone else and either doesn’t seek out advice or doesn’t want to listen when it’s offered. Such know-it-alls delude themselves into thinking they have everything figured out, even though they don’t. For as hard as it is to elbow your way into the marketplace in ideal circumstances, it’s made exponentially harder when you don’t check your ego at the door.”