10,000 Hours

Malcolm Gladwell claims in his book that folks reach the "true genius" threshold of their craft when they reach the ten thousand hour mark of practice. In other words, a violinist, basketball player, golfer or programmer reaches extreme proficiency once they have practiced two hours a day for ten years.

The Beatles put in their 10,000 hours in Hamburg and produced their greatest work (arguably, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) after Paul McCartney and John Lennon had been together 10 years, 1957 to 1967.

Bill Gates and Bill Joy had the opportunity to put in their 10,000 on computers starting in the late 60's. Gates had access to a computer at a summer camp thanks to a budgetary stroke of luck in which the parents of the attending kids invested excess bucks in computer equipment. Joy was able to time-share a computer at the University of Michigan and put in his time, sometimes nodding off multiple times in the middle of the night at the keyboard.

The point is, it takes ambition, talent and tons of work ... 10,000 hours to be precise.

Building a Small Business That Warren Buffett Would Love - Available Everywhere, Spring 2012