Wes O'Donnell Speaks at the US Air Force Academy 2016

Hi Captain Charters, I left a six figure, comfortable life at a respected medical company and took my wife and three kids to below the poverty line. Watching them suffer for my ambition to make a better life seemed selfish at the time, and was extremely hard to watch. So, financial challenges were the primary hardship. If I had my life to live over again, I would have stayed at my job and started a company while still employed somewhere else, to ensure an income while I build through the first 12-18 months; also known as the valley of death, when most startups struggle the most.

In our profession of arms, we say that failure is not an option. Failure for us might mean mission failure, the loss of life of ourselves and our allies. But in entrepreneurship, failure is part of the process. I learned that we have to turn failure into a positive while still keeping it at arm's length.