How To Succeed As An Entrepreneur
Hello Medium. Recently I’ve been spending some of my time here, sharing thoughts on Product Development and Business Strategy. This post is a response to one of the questions asked by readers. Thank you for your ongoing support! 👋
As an entrepreneur, you’ve got fires burning when you arrive at the office and leave. You’re juggling multiple things at once, trying to learn, validate, design, build, sell, socialize, market, hire, reflect, raise, acquire, outcompete, and exit.
One of the readers asked this question on social media: “Vadim, how do I succeed as an entrepreneur of an early-stage startup?”
I’ve been looking for this answer myself. Over the last 5 incredible years of being involved with startup communities around the world, I recognized the importance of listening more than you speak, giving more than you get, and creating value with every action you take. Let me explain.
As entrepreneurs, we don’t normally think of starting businesses so we can help others around us succeed. But it is a two-way street, a ‘give and take’ that lifts you and the lives of those you touch, a constant cycle of asking for help, and helping others.
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs I know did it this way. They got involved. They helped other founders get off the ground. They gave much-needed feedback to those launching new ventures. They mentored other entrepreneurs. They marketed other people’s initiatives. They introduced and connected folks they knew should know one another, sometimes without waiting to be asked.
And in the process, they helped themselves. They’ve connected with talented folks from the community. They learned about the industry. They found some early adopters, investors, and advisors for their own businesses. Sometimes, they even found co-founders they desperately needed.
Good karma is a thing. Stop keeping score and get to work helping others. Spend your next ten minutes introducing an entrepreneur to a mentor of yours, let your followers know about this incredible new product that your former co-founder is working on, or recommend your friend to an incubator that can help him or her make that business dream a reality. As an entrepreneur, you succeed by helping others.
I publish content on product development and business strategy. If you like what you see, do this guy a favour and clap 😉👏
This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by +436,678 people.
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