What do you wish you had known 10 years ago?
To see the projects as what they are: projects, not a part of my identity. To manage my energy better and not follow the hustle harder myth for too long. Building a company from scratch is a marathon, not a sprint. To listen and to trust my gut feeling/intuition more.
What should leaders understand about their own role and responsibility?
You gotta love what you do. You have to be the biggest fan of your solution and the vision behind it in order to ignite the desire in others to follow you or to buy your product/service. At some point you, as a leader, also have to stop working at your company (micro management) and rather work on your company`s future (macro perspective).
What personal habit or behavior helped you accelerate your personal growth?
Regular exchanges with other entrepreneurs in different formats (1:1, groups), taking enough time for my personal growth / healing / inner work, learn from and mingle with the best.
What do you do to maintain balance in your life?
I switched into remote-first collaboration model, reduced travel time significantly, made exercise a fixed appointment in my weekly schedule, try to drink de-caffeinated coffee – if possible.
When times are tough, who or what is an anchor for you?
Increase me-time and rituals that allow me to stay connected to my true self not to be carried away from the current noise/chaos.
What can we do to create a great workplace for our colleagues?
Be really interested in the person you're dealing with, try to understand the person in depth, take time to be informed about what is going on in their lives – even outside work.
What’s your favorite ritual or meeting in your team?
It's a combination of regular meetings that allow everyone to focus on their daily work without unnecessary interruptions (weeklys, monthlys) and regular in-person activities, e.g. lunches, dinners, workation.
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What's the biggest insight you learned in recent years?
It’s always a good idea to be connected to your product – even if you have to deal with high-level topics, always remember the things you offer.
What personal habit helped you accelerate your personal growth?
In one of the hardest times of my life so far, I started journaling for 1-2h on Sundays. Not digital, but with paper and pen. Always answering the same questions related to self, social life and work. This brutally honest and regular reflection once a week helped me identify problems early and iterate fast.
When times are tough, who or what is an anchor for you?
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.
What's a mistake that you're happy you've made?
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.