The secret behind massively impactful startups — My experience at CDL
If you live in North America — you know how bad snow days can get…
I remember it was snowing, roads were jammed, things were moving slow and I was sitting in the subway, listening to a podcast likely from The Knowledge Project while thinking about the impact in the world I wish to create in 10 years' time.
I then walked into CDL’s front door and very soon I realized that I wasn’t just stepping into any regular building, I was stepping into an environment surrounded by people who all want to create mass impact in the world.
I greeted my mentor Prashant Mata — where we met with various startups throughout the day. I would like this opportunity to thank my mentor Prashant for teaching me a ton about what it takes to build not only successful but impactful startups!
I learned so much that it took me quite a few good days to reflect on everything, but for the purpose of this article — I’ve curated the most important lessons that I’ve internalized.
Lesson #1: Execute. Execute. and Reiterate.
The most important lesson I took away was how important it is for startups to move fast, by fast I mean lightning fast.
Larger companies can risk delaying product launch, pilot launches, but not startups simply because you can’t risk delaying anything. Larger companies have other sources to operate on even if they delay their product launch, but not startups.
Therefore, I can’t stress how important it is to just keep on executing and reiterating. The first “product” or your MVP (minimal viable product) doesn’t have to be perfect or extraordinary in any sense, but it has to be done quickly. For instance, Facebook didn’t start by launching its first product globally connecting everyone in the world, it started in a dorm room launching its MVP to Harvard students exclusively.
Not to mention, Facebook’s first launch looked something like this:
Other examples like Amazon didn’t all start out with being the biggest online retailer, it started off selling books exclusively.
The point is you want to execute fast in order to iterate fast. Your first product launch isn’t going to be perfect, but that’s okay because execution is 99% of the game, while ideas are 1% of the game.
Lesson #2: Feedback is Gold.
Execution is so critical because the feedback you receive from your first product launch/pilot launch is gold since nowhere else will you get this sort of market-product fit data point to help you iterate in the right direction.
Effort alone is not enough if the direction you are heading towards won’t lead you to where you want to be at. That’s why getting feedback is so key because you want to fail fast and not fail late.
To grow means to iterate fast in the right direction.
Lesson #3: People invest in Founders.
Having the right mindset as a founder is so important. Having enthusiasm and passion for what you’re working on is critical. Having the anti-fragility to be able to make a stronger comeback after every challenge/failure is perhaps the most important quality.
While investors invest in founders, they also take into account the founding team as a whole.
Being a 1 person team is the most frequent mistake founders make.
At CDL, one of the aspects the mentors and VCs care about is whether the founding team has complementary skill sets and expertise, and a collective passion for what they’re building.
✌️ Joey
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