“The door to happiness opens to the inside.” - many entrepreneurs or driven people are struggling to find their way to happiness because, in my opinion, they are always on the search for something greater. But true happiness can only be found within us.
“The hard thing about hard things” by Ben Horowitz. He describes the struggles of entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs the best.
Invest the time into hiring the right A-people (A refers to the cultural fit and ambition), and don’t take shortcuts. Spend the time to describe and build the processes in your teams with your teams. Only clarity on the work process and clear the path for self-sustained people in your team. Last but not least, work on the personal development of your team mates, that will make a great team.
Doing more proper research before I start implementing something new (user research, customer research, etc). I’m often too quick in action (still), but I’m working on improving on that. That cost me 10 years ago a lot of development time in my previous company because I followed my first instincts too quickly. “Be fast with slow steps.”
I’m constantly working on personal growth. It’s not lack of knowledge that holds you back as a leader but your behavior, learned routines, communication, or better lack of it. I joined many leadership trainings, especially one from a wise guy in Salzburg about feedback in a group that helped me grow.
I love to see how a team evolves and becomes stronger. How certain people in a team are willing to learn and grow and to see their evolution to become a leader themselves. I had that amazing experience several times in my life, following team mates on their path to become the leader of the team (or in some cases, the leader of the whole company)
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My co-founders are my anchor in work-related topics. Having an environment where failure is welcomed with a helping hand and where weakness is valued as openness, once you are down those people will drag you up.
When I was 16 (way before the internet) I founded a travel-partner agency to connect people from different backgrounds seeking travel companions. After a year, I had to close the agency due to a lack of customers and the confusion some callers had regarding the nature of the “service.” Despite this setback, I gained invaluable insights into sales, communication and people’s needs, solidifying my desire to run a business that helps people.
After graduating, I worked for an extremely well-paying automotive company. But I always had the feeling that there was more out there. So I quit and went into research with the aim of becoming a founder.
There are no overnight miracles, it's very hard work: both physically and emotionally. Requires resilience, grit, strategic approach and grind.