What's your secret sauce for building a great team?
Having a details/never-ending focus on our team culture. Although this sounds basic; as a remote team, we’ve put significant effort towards building and strengthening a positive, motivating culture where we enjoy coming to work each day. Specific approaches to this include promoting trust and flexibility as we work remotely, emphasizing a healthy work/life balance by encouraging time off, and bringing the team together in ongoing ways like teambuilding exercises and activities. This has resulted in a team that works together well, motivated by our common goals and positive attitude, and knows they’re trusted while being able to have a flexible work/life balance.
What’s an important belief / a guiding principle that informs the way you build and run your business?
“Listen to our users”! This has been such an important facet of our business, and has helped us not only build a product that is truly oriented towards helping our users, but also brought our team together as a motivator as we’ve learned to always treat user feedback with respect and curiosity. This has translated into better support as we make sure to put ourselves in our user’s shoes; better sales as we ask our users better and better questions; and even better marketing as we strive to better understand our users.
What motivates you to work as a leader / entrepreneur?
As I’ve continued to grow as an entrepreneur, I’ve found that I’ve appreciated how the concepts of problem-solving and rapid decision making have been a part of my day to day work. I think this has motivated me, as I attempt to grow and learn from solving problems/struggles on an ongoing basis and making quick but informed decisions, then moving forward.
What quote or saying has stuck with you?
I’ve always loved Richard Branson’s quote: “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat (and compensate) them well enough so they don't want to”. This has driven a large part of how we’ve built our team…with a significant focus on sharing knowledge among the whole team and “constantly learning” together. Just as importantly, I’ve kept an emphasis on crafting the team culture/compensation to keep the team “sticky”..not wanting to leave.
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Here’s More, From Other Founders Around the World
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.
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.
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.