Jumping into the technical entrepreneur role with just a dream and a prayer, and without the reality checks discussed in the preceding section, is called a passion trap. Most experts agree that entrepreneurial success has a lot to do with your level of passion, determination, and innovation, but these have to be tempered with some strong business principles to keep the focus on reality.

According to Small Business Association figures, about six million Americans a year make the bold leap onto the startup path, with many more worldwide, and many have no corporate safety net to fall back on. Unfortunately, less than half of these new ventures survive beyond a few years. The passion trap is just one of the downfalls.

I'm sure we have all seen entrepreneurs with high levels of passion and confidence touting an idea that seems to make very little sense to us. Of course, we never see ourselves in this mode, yet we need to recognize that all humans see reality...