"Entrepreneurship is about experimentation: the probabilities of success are low, extremely skewed, and unknowable until an investment is made."

After being an entrepreneur for a decade operating across Asia, I agree with this statement down to my core. It's an uncomfortable fact, but the reality is -- not everyone is built to be an entrepreneur.

The ability to get back up after failure is the defining factor between those who make it and those who don't. It's not about intelligence, funding, or even having the best idea -- it's about resilience. How you react the first time you get knocked down will tell you everything about whether this path is right for you.

When I co-founded ATEC back in 2016, we believed we had a solution that would change lives -- clean cooking technology that could replace traditional, polluting cooking as well as have a significant impact on climate change and household incomes.

The potential was both clear and enormous, but the reality was far more difficult. In Cambodia, we faced everything from sceptical customers to logistical nightmares. At times, it felt impossible to move forward.

That was the first of many moments of truth -- give up, or find a way to push through. We chose to adapt, refine our model by listening to our customers, and then grind our way to success.

But resilience isn't a one-time requirement; it's a constant test. Some 10 years, more than $10 million investments and 100,000 lives impacted later, I'm still tested every day -- potentially even more so than in the early days.

When we expanded into Bangladesh as our second market at the end of 2019, we were confident we had learned most of the hard lessons. Yet, we were confronted with new challenges -- unexpected regulatory issues, partnership promises that weren't fulfilled, and a distribution model that didn't fully translate.

Then to top it off, Covid-19 hit. Once again, we had to decide whether to fold under pressure or find another way and once again, resilience made the difference. Following the golden rule of startup recruitment -- ensuring your first hire is the best damn person you can find -- also certainly helped.

This ability to rise after failure isn't something everyone has. Some people hit that roadblock and decide entrepreneurship isn't for them -- and that's okay. Not everyone is suited for this life and we need a whole range of people in society.

But if you get knocked down and feel an instinctive drive to get back up, humbly admit where you were wrong, and try again, that's the clearest sign you are an entrepreneur. You can be born with this, or it can be learnt, the only way to find out is to thrust yourself into the uncomfortable void of trying and failing.

You do this and survive, then you're on the entrepreneurship path.

But please, save the glorified success stories for your next social media post. Every real entrepreneur knows deep down the reality that real entrepreneurship isn't glorious -- it hurts -- but we wouldn't do anything else.

The author is co-founder and CEO of ATEC Global