Be purposeful and intentional with how you build your business

You should not be in business purely to profit at all cost. Build a business that will make the world better.

Never listen if an investor or advisor tells you that your idea is terrible. You should know your customers better than anyone else, listen to them instead. If you’re open to adjusting your idea with customer feedback, you’ll never go wrong.

It’s important to learn to identify and capitalize on opportunities, but it’s even more important to have a clear mission and know your why or purpose of your business.

It’s one thing to know what to do, another to know when to do it and how to do it in a way that’s right for your business. Clarity on values will help inform these decisions.

Not every business needs to or should raise capital from investors. There’s always room for local & impactful small businesses and there’s no shame in wanting to build a lifestyle business.

Don’t blindly execute on what others tell you to do, understand why and the perspective with which their advice comes from.

e.g. Investors will tell you that it’s common to dilute 20-25% per round (because they want more). You should aim to only dilute by 15-20%.

Good advisors shouldn’t tell you what to do. They challenge your assumptions, approach, point out blind spots, and give you ideas. Ultimately, you need to decide what is relevant for your context.

Sales isn’t a numbers game, it isn’t just a process, a transaction. Sales should be the outcome, never the goal. However, you need to put yourself out there! People won’t just magically come to you.

They’re 2 ends of a spectrum that meet and blend into each other.

And to go even further, don’t look for work-life balance, they aren’t 2 opposing sides of a scale. Think work-life harmony.