
Reflecting on 10 Years of Entrepreneurship
When it occurred to me that this year I’ve reached the 10-year milestone of entrepreneurship since starting my company, I began to reflect on the hardest-won lessons. There are too many to list, but I consolidated the most valuable ones into 24 principles that I hope will benefit other entrepreneurs and leaders. These are lessons gleaned from ten years of closing deals, losing deals, building teams, traveling the world in pursuit of goals and also striving to give back by promoting entrepreneurship globally for millennials and generation Z.
1. Be patient. With enough time, every battle can be won.
2. Don’t force things. Give 110% effort and if it’s meant to happen, it will. You can’t control what you can’t control.
3. Your time here is short. So make the most of it.
4. But you have so much time. Not every dream comes true immediately. Stay in the box for as long as it takes.
5. Don’t confuse emotions with instincts. One is honed from past experience and will often guide you correctly. The other will lead to irrational mistakes. The only way to discern between the two is to know yourself and reflect.
6. Gut reactions can kill…ideas, deals, companies and reputations. There’s a difference between being deliberate and rushing. Have a plan, be intentional, execute. But do it on your terms and after careful planning. Never out of reaction.
7. Sometimes idols will let you down. You still learn from them.
8. Not everybody is who you think they are. And that’s ok. There’s something you can learn from every person you meet.
9. Meet people where they are. You can’t change people who don’t want to change.
10. It’s ok if they don’t like you. Leadership isn’t a popularity test. Make the best decisions you can with the information and experience that you have.
11. Govern on principles, not trends or fads. Decide what you stand for and build your organization around it.
12. It’s easy to make a decision. It’s much harder to manage it everyday.
13. Don’t get ahead of yourself. You can’t go to work on your 25-year goal immediately. Focus on your 1-year goal first and build incrementally. If you try to skip too many rungs at a time, you’ll fall off the ladder.
14. People need a leader with a steady hand. Don’t flip-flop.
15. If you’re on the fence about something, you probably shouldn’t do it.
16. As your business grows, don’t stop doing the small, unscalable things.
17. Calm, consistent and committed over time will always beat short-sighted, overly-aggressive and ruthless.
18. You can’t outwork the whole world so build systems and teams.
19. Show up. Every single time. Even when you don’t want to.
20. We all have an obligation to serve. Our unique skills and talents allow us to contribute in different ways, but we all have an obligation to serve.
21. Believe in those who don’t believe in themselves. They will surprise you.
22. Don’t contribute to the world’s darkness. Be a light for others.
23. Don’t let people on Facebook and Instagram tell you how to run your business.
24. Don’t tempt fate. Take calculated risks.
