In my personal opinion, the first thing an entrepreneur needs is vision. I've communicated with many entrepreneurs, and at the start of their ventures, most of them didn't know why they were starting a business or where they were headed. They just had a few relationship-based clients; some didn't even have client resources. They just chatted enthusiastically with their friends, felt it was very promising, thought that if they didn't seize the opportunity this time, they would definitely regret it later. There was no real validation or detailed quantifiable goals before they started their businesses. Now, many of them are in a state where they're not completely dead but not fully alive either, stuck in a middle ground. If they shut down their companies and go back to working for someone else, they no longer have the right mindset. If they continue operating, they still can't see a way out.