Resilience at Coastline
When you think about starting a business, what do you consider to be your most important asset? Is it money? Talent? Intellect?
What about grit?
Time and time again I’ve found that grit (aka resilience) has been a key determining factor whether my company died on the vine or survived to grow further and advance forward.
Grit is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties or setbacks. And it is core to the kind of employee that we look to recruit at Coastline.
When hiring our first employees at Coastline we’ve intensively scanned candidates for indications of grit by asking ourselves some of the questions below (borrowed from Drift’s David Cancel):
Are They Hungry?
1. Does this person have something to prove?
2. Have they had a tough job in their life?
3. Can we offer them a great opportunity to prove themselves that others won’t?
4. If they are experienced, are they willing to re-prove themselves to earn a seat on our team? No credit for past performance. You have to earn your spot.Are They Scrappy?
1. Can they make something out of nothing?
2. Can they think on their own and come up with creative solutions on their own?
3. Are they willing to do whatever it takes to get it done?
4. Are they willing to put their ego to the side in order to win?
6. Do they have a strong work ethic?
7. Frugal? Do they think like a founder, not an employee. Putting customers and enterprise value above their desires. Founder = “It’s not a question of literal ownership. It’s a question of attitude.” — Laszlo Bock (author of Work Rules!)
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Making intelligent decisions has proven to be important for my startup but I think many are capable of this, either through learning or natural ability. Consistent excellence is also incredibly important: your reputation hangs in the balance whenever a mistake is made + a good reputation takes forever to build and only seconds to be taken away.
But Grit? It seems like most entrepreneurs do not hold out long enough to find the reward for their labour.
I liken to my experiences building my first company so far to experiences I’ve had mountaineering. Startups have many false summits, lack of a clear trail, unpredictable conditions, unplanned exposure and unforeseen risks. Many founders decide that startups are not for them — that the risk isn’t worth the reward.
Despite the risks and the challenges, I think it pays to have long-term, audacious goals. For example, I have a personal goal for an unguided ascent of Denali (the highest mountain in North America) in 2023. I don’t know for certain whether my labour and exerted energy will have resulted in enough learnings to achieve that goal, but I’ll continue to stick it out through the failures and the setbacks because I love the process of trying. Ultimately this loving of the process is what I feel allows for resilience in my own life. We have ambitious plans for Coastline as well. While we have a plan to reach Coastline’s goals that seems to make sense, our team will always be ready to tackle challenges head-on with a sense of responsibility and resilience.
It’s a long journey so we might as well make it a good one.
