Each One Teach One: Founders Supporting Founders
(and why masterminds work)
To know the life of a founder is to know the true meaning of chasing a dream. I’m not saying entrepreneur. I hear that word tossed around a lot these days, and while I can honor anyone who ventures out on their own to begin a business, I’m specifically calling out the young women and men who muster up a dream, a plan, a few friends, a corner of a co-working or makerspace, and then create, PITCH, and iterate. They do it again, and again with pivots and sleepless nights to make their idea a reality. Founders have a special place in my heart. I’ve been on the 2am calls when they’re solving for that next problem and are also worried about funding and doing well by those who have invested in them, and what I’ve come to know is that as a coach there’s value that I can add, and sometimes… they just need another founder to talk to.
I was recently discussing a story from “The Moment of Lift” by Melinda Gates. In it she recounts this amazing tale of a math teacher and a nun at her school whom she credits learning computer science from. The school didn’t have computers, yet Mrs Bauer convinced the school to buy them. She became the founder of a start up at this moment. She got funding for an idea that solved a problem — she was able to purchase the Apple II’s for the students. But who would teach the class? Gates goes on to recount the adventures of Mrs Bauer taking night classes to study computer science at Texas State University just to come back the next morning and teach what she learned to her students. They learned programming, and she managed a masters! She took action to solve the next problem, and went to other founders that were a step ahead (her teachers), then came back to he high school the very next morning and was just one small step ahead of her customers (students) in delivering.
While I’ve obviously stretched the story to fit my narrative… isn’t it true that Mrs Bauer’s grit and determination are the very thing that founders embrace today? She learned about and then solved a problem, and immediately taught her girls how to solve next. Mrs Baer taught Melinda Gates, Melinda has now contributed to the world in so many ways. Never underestimate the power of taking what you have just learned and passing it on. Each one… teach ONE.
This brings me to founder life and executive coaching. Prime Movers Lab has dedicated itself to always delivering exceptional training and coaching to its internal team as well as the founders that invests in. Through workshops, webinars, and one on one coaching the investment goes beyond just funding and into building the person, or as I’ve previously stated; scaling the founder. While I am absolutely a champion for one on one coaching and have chosen it as my professional focus over public speaking, and a number of other related ways to deliver development, the most effective support I have witnessed is when founders get together and open up with each other, much like in founder driven mastermind groups.
My younger brother experienced this when he took a trip clear across the United States to join the coveted group of founders in his 500 StartUps class. Being around other founders who just “get it” allowed him to open up about vulnerabilities in his processes as well as his product. The pitch and catch with the rest of the group helped him grow leaps and bounds, and the business decisions that followed allowed a company ranked number two in their class to pivot and grow. One group of founders that brought me in for speaker training told me their story of coming to YCombinator only to find that guidance from the other founders in the group meant a pivot away from their entire core product, and instead to go deeper in development of the background software they were using to manage their business. With an additional two founders joining them — they eventually built one of the most successful SaaS enterprises of the last decade. I’m not sure they would have taken the same advice from outsiders. Founders advising founders — again and again has proven deeply effective. Organizing this conversation can be a challenge because time seems to be the most scarce resource in startup life. Truly though it’s about what we prioritize.
I encourage all founders who have succeeded, or are finding themselves just one step ahead of their friends, to make the time to share your learnings and experience with those around you. MAKE.THE.TIME. Contribution is a force so strong, that once you allow it to drive you it is as if time stands still. When that happens, your presence (or presents … see what I did there?) that you give the community of women and men making the valiant attempt to change the world, becomes the very best kind of investment. Just think back for a minute to that one important chat over coffee, the impactful dinner, the late night at the incubator where someone made that investment in you. They just understood, and they stayed with you. How did you feel at that moment? Loved? Appreciated? Seen? I implore you, show up for the networking event, do the crazy afternoon potluck thing, and contribute to your mastermind. If you are not enrolled in a structured mastermind with other founders… step up and organize one. Prime Movers encourages all of its members to grow the community by supporting each other in this way.
Mrs Bauer made the time. Her heart was contribution focused and so night school became her resource — she made the time. The high school invested in her “start up” idea. In every moment where she was learning, her intention was to immediately take that information and give back. Bauer was dedicated to being in a STATE of abundance even when she was just one step ahead, and of contribution to a few high school seniors, one of whom is now one of the most influential women in the world. Never underestimate what can happen when we all commit — Each one, teach one. We pass on more than a widget or a gadget, we pass on a legacy of contribution to each other. I’m sure we all agree that is something that deserves our focus right now.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in seed-stage companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation, and agriculture.
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