When you’re an early-stage startup, your goal is probably to build a thriving, sustainable business. But the path to a startup success is unpredictable. It’s useful to glean wisdom from entrepreneurs who have succeeded and failed when you’re launching your business.
We recently sat down with CogniTea founder Alex Kravets, who shared a few important lessons he learned on his journey as an entrepreneur.
Understand the Why
When you’re building something, identify what your product stands for. People will understand ‘what’ your product is, but they don’t necessarily understand the ‘why’ behind your brand. People relate to products and brands that represent their ideal self, like Lululemon or Nike. If you can project the ‘why’ effectively, you can create a meaningful connection with your consumers. I believe this is what drives successful companies and products forward.
Find Networking Groups
There are networking groups for everything. I learned that there are always people who are doing something similar to you in your city, and they’ll probably want to help you. Find those people in organizations and meet-ups who are enthusiastic as you are. If you put yourself out there, good things will happen.
Talk to Everyone
When you’re launching a company, you should go and talk to every single person you possibly can about your product. I’ve had hundreds of conversations with random people and some of them have turned into friends and advisors. These people can also become potential investors or pledgers. Tell them about your project and ask them for their feedback. Some people won’t care, but many will probably respond to your creative energy.
Go With Your Gut
As founders, we want to market our brand and get as many people behind our vision as possible. You will most certainly run into people who don’t ‘get it’ and people who do not care. The most important thing to do is to differentiate people who do not ‘get it’ from the people who are giving advice that is helpful yet contrary to your own beliefs and vision. Pay attention to the patterns that emerge and course correct as needed. At the end of the day, it is your company and your vision. Go with your gut and keep pushing.
For more advice from Kravets, check out his Do What You Love feature here.