---
title: "Resilience and Telos in Entrepreneurs"
description: "Discover how resilience and purpose drive successful founders. Key insights from psychology research on building grit and finding your entrepreneurial calling."
categories: ["culture","startups"]
keywords: ["Theory Ventures","entrepreneurship","resilience","grit","startup culture","psychology of success","Tomasz Tunguz","venture capital","telos","founder mindset"]
ai_summary: "Explore how resilience and purpose shape successful entrepreneurs, drawing from psychological insights on grit and telos."
date: 2016-03-04
lastmod: 2026-07-21
canonical_url: https://www.tomtunguz.com/resilence-telos-entrerpreneurship/
author: "Tomasz Tunguz"
---

In "[How People Learn to Become Resilient](http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/the-secret-formula-for-resilience)" Maria Konnikova retells the story of Norman Garmezy and George Bonnano, the first developmental psychologists to study grit and resilience. 

> It’s only when you’re faced with obstacles, stress, and other environmental threats that resilience, or the lack of it, emerges: Do you succumb or do you surmount?...One of the central elements of resilience, Bonnano has found, is perception: Do you conceptualize an event as traumatic, or as an opportunity to learn and grow?

These researchers propose an important corollary to their fieldwork: resilience can be taught. It's a mindset of choosing how to react to circumstances and situations, and a belief that you can change those circumstances.

As I read this article, I remembered a conversation with a friend at the Grove, a bustling, campy lunch spot at the corner of 3rd and Mission. "Entrepreneurship is my telos," he said. "What's a telos?" I asked. 

Telos means an end, a goal that defines the person. Plato and Aristotle wrote [about telos](http://www.the-american-interest.com/2014/08/22/greek-to-me-2/): both agreed every person seeks to actualize his/her potential. And my friend's ultimate goal, his fulfillment is starting companies. 

Many great entrepreneurs I've met embody both of these characteristics: unflagging resilience and a clear understanding of their ultimate purpose. They reinforce the other. A strong sense of purpose bolsters the spirit in challenging times, and persistent resilience sustains a founder to ultimately attain their telos. 

The notion that resilience can be taught echoes the idea that [great founders can come from anywhere](http://tomtunguz.com/great-entrepreneur-anywhere/). Wherever they come from, they will be pursuing their telos.