When I first had the idea for my startup, I was fortunate to connect with an investor who immediately saw its potential. For reasons not worth getting into here, I was initially in the mindset of bootstrapping Gremlin and building it without outside help. Ultimately, my co-founder and I accepted seed money from a respected venture capital firm that's well-connected, believed in the mission and had invaluable experience.
As they say, with time comes wisdom. I was able to dedicate a year building our platform without having to worry too much about how I was going to continue supporting my family. Now after raising a Series A and acquiring many new customers, I am in a much better position to give advice to first-time founders than I was even six months ago. So here are my top tips for anyone that has recently become a founder or is thinking about launching their own company in the future.
1. Have Skin In The Game
It’s critical to understand all the elements of your business. Personally as an engineer, familiarizing myself with human resources, sales and marketing was challenging (and continues to be), but understanding payroll and benefits is crucial for your team. Sales and marketing put you in front of your customers, which forces you to refine your message. As the founder, it's your responsibility to be multifaceted and have the ability to empathize with your employees' hardships and successes. It will make you a more effective manager and allow for better-informed hiring decisions.
2. Don't Hesitate To Ask For Advice
One of the most pleasant surprises I came to find after launching my own company is how generous other entrepreneurs are with their time. Sitting down and speaking with other founders who have already been through the process is invaluable and will save you from making unnecessary mistakes. I couldn’t be more grateful to the numerous people who have served as mentors, providing advice and helping to calibrate the direction of my company, and now I feel a strong responsibility to pay that forward. There are many other founders around you who feel the same way -- seek them out.
3) Always Be Recruiting, Selling And Fundraising
• Recruiting: Building a great product is what gets you off the ground, but building a great team is how you win in the long run. The best people will always have opportunities, so keep your ear to the ground because timing is key. Sometimes it can take months or even years to close a deal to bring the best talent on board.
• Selling: People represent value by what they are willing to pay for. If you are having a difficult time finding paying customers, then you haven’t found the right product-market fit yet. Focusing on revenue is synonymous with focusing on what brings value to your customers.
• Fundraising: Finding the right investors will take time and effort. Don’t just take the first offer that comes your way! Great investors give sound advice, make crucial introductions and are an invaluable support system for the long journey ahead.
4. Get Comfortable With Hard Conversations
Being a founder means the buck stops with you. The reality is that things don’t always work out, whether it be misalignment with your investors or an employee who isn’t a great fit, and you will have to make difficult decisions. Be willing to stand your ground and calmly (but firmly) defend your position.
5. Be Honest And Transparent
A culture of honesty and transparency starts at the top. Everyone from employees to potential customers will become disenfranchised if you are not straightforward. This is particularly important to keep in mind for sales and especially in tech, where the audience is very savvy. It’s often a breath of fresh air for the other side of the negotiation table when they realize you are genuinely interested in finding a mutually beneficial situation.
Taking the time to build relationships with both your employees and customers -- to genuinely listen to their feedback, understand their problems and actively work to make their lives better -- will prove to be worth the effort. Be involved, seek advice from experts, understand your product better than anyone in the world and conduct business from a place of honesty and openness. Good luck!
