These series of guest posts are written by the teams attending the Tetuan Valley Startup School 2011 Fall edition. This post is written by the Hukuju team, formed by Álvaro García, Joaquín Sánchez, Fernando Caballero and  Fernando Amenedo.

There was an interesting campaign during the second world war where the british government printed a series of posters that tried to promote calm within the citizens amongst a possible and imminent  invasion of the country. The slogan they chose was, “Keep calm, carry on”. The shame is that these series of posters weren’t re-discovered till late ‘00s. Right now there are only two left, but, if you get the chance, we highly recommend that you take a copy an print it really big, right in front of where you work.

If you have ever felt like throwing away your laptop ‘cause some bug is killing your work of the hole day and you don’t know how to fix it. I you have ever imagine killing your partners in the start up after a night of hard work because their are picking on things you think are not important right now. If you have thought of leaving everything aside, all the work, your partners, your company…everything…you should just “KEEP CALM, AND CARRY ON”.

Psychology of successful entrepreneurs is not easy at all. We deal with all kind of problems while we try to control business. There are a few things that we should all keep in mind to avoid feeling defeat, craziness or simply surrender.

1. Feel that you really have something special going on, and that whatever comes in the way doesn’t really matter. You are about to change your life, and if you are lucky, others too. At the same time you need to be humble enough to realize that what ever comes in the way may make your project better. Attend to others opinion, they may be your potential clients. Never say no, if you think that something that has been said doesn’t matter, write it down. Maybe, someday, you may need to come back to it.
2. As said, never surrender. One day you get a big customer order, the next day your investors pulls off the support or a key employee leaves, or the market makers and analysts question your business strategy. Even if this happens, you might be doing it right.
3. Think long, think big. Time goes by fast. Do not think you have been too long on it and it won’t launch because it hasn’t done it yet. There may be few quarters or years of hunkering down and rebuilding the process because what you had originally envisioned did not pan out. Still, you my be on your way.
4. Let them change you. Brake the walls that you built around you. You are trying to create something for other, why don’t you let them create something for you too? Experience has shown that the more empowerment you give to the people the better and longer your relationship might get you. Always be aware of what’s going on, what people like, what they don’t, what they want to change…just open, test, and receive… Evolve.