Just Do It.

Short. Simple. Profound.

In my opinion this has to be one of the best taglines an ad agency has done. Credit to Wieden+Kennedy.

I still remember sitting on the couch as a little boy watching that Nike commercial, after it finished I jumped up, grabbed my basketball and shot free throws for an hour.The power of advertising.

Another great tagline that speaks to me in a similar way, is that of Startup Weekend: No Talk. All Action. We are in the midst of planning the second Startup Weekend here in Cebu, and yours truly is the lead organizer. I remember after the first event thinking to myself “I had no idea how much work that would be, I will never do that again”. A few months later the Just Do It mantra took over and here I go again.

Monday night a friend (and fellow startup entrepreneur) and I had dinner, we both share a frustration in hearing a lot of talk about co-working spaces opening up in Cebu. Halfway through our meal, we decided that we will just do it. (Sign up for more info here:BahayStartup)

The reason I am talking about all of these tag lines, slogans and mantras is that I feel they are essential to successful entrepreneurs. It is the quintessential attitude of a founder. If you want to start your own company, you have to ask yourself “Do I have the tenacity to do this?” Do you have the tenacity to work late, to finish that last issue, to write just one more email, to do all the things no one else wants to do and to do them excellently, do you have the courage to ship and ship often? These questions aren’t the type that you answer once and then sail through for the rest of your life. No, these are the type that pop up every day, and you have to stare back at them and yell, JUST DO IT.