Being a Parent Is a Business Superpower
Read time: 3½ minutes
Welcome to issue #043 of Unicorn Parents. Each week, I share practical insights and reflections to help you build a profitable business without missing the magic at home. If you’re serious about winning at work while raising great kids, you’ve come to the right place. This is a community built for ambitious parents who want both.
Do you ever envy people who don’t have kids?
Sacrilegious thought. I know.
We can’t (and wouldn’t) imagine a life without our children.
I wouldn’t ever wish for that version of an alternate universe.
And yet…
If we’re being honest (and if you don’t think these things… then for the sake of argument, let’s pretend you do), some of us have had moments where we think:
“When I was younger…”
“Before I got married…”
“Before kids…”
Which raises a real question, especially for founders and operators:
Would life without kids actually make you a better entrepreneur?
I was curious, so I asked around.
That curiosity led me to a conversation with Dennis Chookazsian.
A little context on Dennis.
He’s the kind of man you imagine seeing in a film—the elder chairman with wisdom earned the hard way. Former CEO and Chairman of CNA. Currently sits on 13+ public boards and more than a dozen private ones, including Northwestern University and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This is the man who taught me the importance of corporate governance and what it really means to manage a strong board.
Dennis has 3 adult children and 14 grandchildren.
A full life. And still rocking on and paving the way well into his 80s.
So I asked him directly.
Me:
“You’d agree there’s real tension between building a business and raising kids. You clearly did both exceptionally well. How did you manage that tension?”
Dennis:
“It’s a false dream to want zero tension. Resistance is good. It’s what makes us grow. Life is boring without what you just called tension.”
That answer stuck with me.
Entrepreneurs love the fantasy of focus without friction—no interruptions, no constraints, no divided attention.
But that fantasy is usually just another word for imbalance.
And here’s the part we rarely admit:
If it weren’t kids, it would be something else.
Humans are notoriously good at running into problems.
Remove one source of tension and we don’t arrive at eternal peace.
We just go looking for a new one.
Status.
Ego.
Money.
Validation.
Control.
Obsession dressed up as “ambition.”
Nature abhors a vacuum.
So does the human soul.
Kids are a blessing because they reorder the hierarchy of problems.
When you’re responsible for protecting a child—keeping them safe, healthy, grounded—suddenly most of the things that used to feel urgent are revealed for what they are: noise.
A bad quarter hurts.
A missed deal stings.
A bruised ego lingers.
But none of it compares to the clarity that comes from knowing:
“This isn’t more important than my kids.”
That kind of perspective doesn’t weaken entrepreneurs.
It makes them harder to derail.
Now let me add this clearly—because this is where my investor hat comes on.
As an investor, I’m always looking for founders who are building for something greater than themselves.
Purpose matters. Direction matters. Moral gravity matters.
And candidly?
Most childless founders struggle here.
Not because they’re incapable.
But because they often lack that non-negotiable why—the kind that forces long-term thinking, restraint, humility, and stewardship.
Kids don’t just give you motivation.
They give you orientation.
They force you to ask better questions:
What kind of world am I building?
What does winning actually mean?
What do I want my children to inherit—not just financially, but ethically?
Kids bring the right kind of tension:
Motivation (you’re no longer building just for yourself)
Humility (your ego doesn’t stand a chance)
Balance (your identity isn’t trapped in a single scoreboard)
Rarely does pouring 100% of our energy into one thing produce healthy outcomes. Even if you’re working 120-hour workweeks (like Elon), you need perspective. Most people are terrible at creating that on their own.
Kids do it for you.
Is it hard? Absolutely.
Is it inconvenient? Constantly.
Is it worth it? Without question.
Too much ease—even “good” ease—makes the mind lazy.
And here’s the truth most startup culture won’t say out loud:
An entrepreneur who has kids and juggles both well (and I mean truly well, not half-assing one while over-indexing on the other) will almost always outperform the mythical 20-year-old single founder with “nothing to lose.”
Because THAT founder actually has everything to lose.
Let me be unmistakably clear:
Being a parent is not a liability in business.
It is a superpower.
It sharpens judgment.
It anchors ambition.
It forces purpose.
Let’s not forget that.