Grit, Influence, Creativity, Intelligence Scorecard
Build entrepreneurial strength in the order success demands
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 94%
Chang presents entrepreneurial ability as a four-part hierarchy rather than a test of intelligence alone. Grit comes first because founders must recover from failure and continue through long periods without visible success. Influence follows because companies depend on investors, employees, partners, and customers choosing to support a shared vision. Creativity enables founders to notice opportunities, combine ideas, and propose solutions that others have missed. Intelligence comes last: it helps execute and refine the opportunity, but it cannot compensate for quitting, working alone, or failing to see a differentiated path. The framework can be used as a personal scorecard, a founder-development plan, or a lens for evaluating prospective collaborators.
Origin
Chang derived the hierarchy from thirteen years of founding Vest and observing successful classmates and companies at Y Combinator.
Core principles
- 01Grit keeps progress alive after setbacks
- 02Influence recruits the people needed to realize a vision
- 03Creativity reveals opportunities others overlook
- 04Intelligence amplifies the other traits but cannot replace them
- 05Great achievements require collaboration
How to run it
- 1
Develop grit
Practice recovering from failure, discomfort, and disappointing results without abandoning the underlying goal. Treat each setback as information for the next attempt.
Pro tip Choose demanding projects where persistence produces visible feedback.
Watch out Persistence without learning can become repetition rather than grit.
- 2
Build influence
Learn to help employees, investors, customers, and partners understand and believe in the vision. Translate the idea into outcomes that matter to each audience.
Pro tip Frame the vision around the other person's incentives rather than your enthusiasm alone.
Watch out Influence must not become manipulation or unsupported promises.
- 3
Exercise creativity
Look for problems, combinations, and delivery mechanisms that others have overlooked. Generate alternatives before committing to one implementation.
Pro tip Study adjacent industries for mechanisms that can be transferred into your market.
Watch out Novelty without a painful customer problem has little commercial value.
- 4
Apply intelligence
Use analytical and technical ability to test, structure, and execute the opportunity uncovered by the first three capabilities.
Pro tip Direct intelligence toward measurable constraints and decisions.
Watch out Do not mistake credentials or abstract intelligence for entrepreneurial readiness.
In the wild
A founder encounters repeated investor rejection but continues refining the company. She then explains the mission to an experienced engineer in terms of the customer problem, identifies a novel product approach, and uses financial analysis to show how the company can survive its first year.
→ The four capabilities combine to turn an unsupported idea into a credible early team.
Chang and his co-founder went for more than four years without income, lived from prior bonuses, cultivated strategic relationships, and adapted the delivery vehicle while preserving the underlying downside-protection thesis.
→ Persistence and partnerships helped Vest move from an early idea to a large outcome-oriented asset manager.
Common mistakes
Optimizing only for intelligence
Academic or analytical strength does not ensure that someone can endure setbacks, recruit support, or recognize an opportunity.
Trying to build alone
Ignoring influence and partnerships leaves even a strong idea without the people and institutions required to execute it.
Confusing stubbornness with grit
Grit means continuing to pursue the goal while learning and adapting, not preserving every failed implementation.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, and leaders evaluating their personal development priorities.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal as a technical competency assessment or a substitute for validating a business opportunity.
From the transcript
“Actually number one is grit”
“Second is influence, your ability to let people see your dream and believe in your dream.”
“This third, which comes back to my point, is creativity, the ability to spot things that other people don't see”
From the episode
Financial Products for Hedging with Vest Co-Founder Jeff Chang
Jeff Chang