Founder & CEO
 at 
Ventura Labs
   

What personal habit or behavior helped you accelerate your personal growth?

Embracing the principles of "carpe diem" driven by the perception that time is finite. This mindset encourages me to seize every moment, view challenges from different perspectives, and pursue the bigger goals with determination. By aligning my actions with my core values, I ensure that my efforts are meaningful and impactful, fostering continuous personal and professional development.

What book do you recommend the most?

"The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers" by Ben Horowitz is a revelation, highlighting the excitement of starting a business and, in contrast, how hard it is to keep it running. Reading it made me realize that I could have managed many situations more effectively if I had discovered this book years earlier.

What's your secret sauce for building a great team?

It centers on trust and candor, effective communication, regular feedback routines, and assembling A-players who motivate each other. Trust and honesty create a supportive environment where everyone feels safe to share and collaborate. Clear communication and consistent feedback ensure alignment and continuous improvement, while having A-players who inspire and challenge each other drives the team to achieve excellence.

What motivated you to become an entrepreneur / leader?

I love exploring new opportunities and the freedom to innovate without constraints. The autonomy to choose the people I work with, and witness their growth, is incredibly rewarding. This journey allows me to continuously learn, build, and see the people around me thrive, which is deeply fulfilling.

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Here’s More, From Other Founders Around the World

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.

  
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What motivated you to become an entrepreneur?

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.

  
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Alexander
 
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What should leaders understand about their own role and responsibility?

There are no overnight miracles, it's very hard work: both physically and emotionally. Requires resilience, grit, strategic approach and grind.

  
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Katia
 
Yakovleva
Co-Founder and CEO
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What’s an important guiding principle that informs the way you build and run your business?

One of our core values is experimentation. Rather than get stuck in arguing about what solution may best solve a problem or play to our ego, we focus on the smallest step we could possibly take to learn whether that’s true. It moves our minds away from thinking too big without sweating the small stuff and from getting stuck in discussions rather than actually doing something to understand the possible solutions better.

  
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 at 
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