The evolution of a founder: Mantras to live and grow by
This is cross-posted from the original article published on Forbes.
When you’re building a company from the ground up, you will make many mistakes. Learning from them and building core mantras from the lessons you glean will define how you think and operate during your journey.
Mantras are born out of your experiences when scaling your company and from surrounding yourself with people who have been down this path before, imparting wisdom from their experience onto you. As I created, founded and grew Percent, these are the mantras that helped me make fewer mistakes, stay even-keeled and continue surviving and thriving.
Mantra 1: Where you start is almost never going to be where you land. Don’t be married to that singular vision—instead, let the market be the one to tell you what it wants.
Think about the reason you started your company. You had a vision for this product, maybe that it would change the world, having a widespread impact. You’re working hard to get a minimum viable product out the door that will get you a fraction of the way there. As you realize this vision, suddenly, your first customers begin using the product, and you realize their needs are different from your initial vision.
This will definitely happen, and you need to remember that every company changes course at some point or even multiple points. In the beginning, every aspect is a potential feature. Your first customers are those who will tell you what needs to be done to transform it into a product that can become a company.
I remember the initial vision we had for Percent was to change the world of private credit and create an accessible solution for everyone by "democratizing access." As we began to make real headway toward that goal, we started to see new problems and opportunities as well.
Managing order books was next to impossible with just a Google Sheet, reporting performance was difficult and pushing borrowers through any sort of compliance process required much handholding. The evolution into an infrastructure company had its roots in that initial vision, but it took being willing to change to get us to where we are today.
Don’t let your love for the initial idea cloud your judgment on how to adapt it; stay flexible and open to ideas in the early stages. It’ll help you craft something you didn’t think of before.
Mantra 2: Most companies are not taken down by a single blow, but rather a series of small yet continuous mistakes.
For most startup operations, there’s no game-changing decision you can make in the beginning that will take you under—the exception being financial spaces where a governing body, such as the SEC, regulates compliance.
As the foundation builds, revenue and a core business plan will fall into place. During these stages, there are also few singular decisions that could bring you down on their own. Rather, what kills companies at any stage is making a slew of smaller mistakes and not learning from them as you go.
Course correction is how you win and make fewer mistakes than your competitors. It’s in the little lessons every day. One example is not listening to your customers, as noted above—staying too firm in your vision time and time again will sink you. Or, not focusing on building the right team, or the right company board.
Every decision has long-term implications. While a single mistake won’t sink your company, a series of missteps will.
Mantra 3: Nothing is ever as bad as it seems, but nothing is ever as good as it seems, either.
Overanalyzing every win and loss will make your journey feel more turbulent than necessary. Being a founder is objectively a rollercoaster, and there are going to be good days, bad days and everything in between.
The key to staying sane and making fewer mistakes is to stay objective and level-headed throughout the journey. It may feel like the end of the world when a large client churns out or when you’re racing against time with few funds and even fewer fundraising prospects.
Don’t let setbacks erode your confidence, and don’t let victories blind you to future challenges. Take each problem one at a time and with an objective approach. Every step you take in the right direction will be positive reinforcement that you’re on the way to success.
On the other end, there will also be times when everything seems to be going your way. You may have just had the best pitch with a VC or closed a landmark deal. It is easy to get lost in the hype and think the good will keep rolling, but you have to stay in that scarcity mindset.
In a startup, you’re perpetually in a tenuous position, and things can flip on a dime. "Nothing is fatal, and there’s always a solution" is just as true as "Nothing is the end-all-be-all, and everything can be taken away in an instant." Once you realize both ends of the spectrum, you’ll reach a place of zen that lets you stay objective and make clear decisions.
Mantra 4: Stay in business long enough to get lucky.
Follow the previous mantras and they’ll lead you to this. If you’re able to adapt to your customers' needs, learn from your mistakes and make objective decisions at every crossroads, you will survive. Now, it’s about surviving long enough to get lucky and make a difference.
There will be fleeting moments of luck along the way that you have to capture to dramatically change the trajectory of the business. Every successful company has had moments of luck, but they were positioned to seize the opportunity when it came.
These are some of many mantras that have guided me on my journey, I hope they help you navigate yours. Success isn't about avoiding mistakes—it's about adapting, learning and staying in the game long enough to seize your moment.
