This week, I was told no and I had to tell others no. Not just at work, but also in my personal life. “No” is difficult, whether you’re on the giving or receiving end. But it’s part of life—something we all must accept. A friend observed that “no” doesn’t bother me. But that’s not totally accurate. I get disappointed like everyone else, but I tend to move past the answer quickly and focus on the why behind it.

I don’t tend to ask why when someone tells me yes. But understanding why people have told me no has taught me a lot. When I don’t get the outcome I’d hoped for, I’m still focusing on how I can achieve it. Understanding why someone told me no shows me perspectives I might not have had—or understood—before. I can use them to adjust my plan and increase the odds of hearing “yes” next time.

Hearing no is tough, and it can be frustrating. But it isn’t the end of the world. If you believe in what you’re doing, try to understand the why. It will help you move past the rejection and position yourself for a yes in the future.

Today marks the end of my seventy-second week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week seventy-two:

• No – This week, I’ve been told no and I’ve told others no. In my personal and professional lives. It’s not easy to say it or hear it. This week was a reminder of that.
• Conviction – This was top of mind last week, and it still is. I’m considering more bold moves and want conviction to factor heavily into my decision-making.
• Intention – I had a great conversation with a founder who recently retired. He shared his views on his intentionality as he starts his next chapter. He has a great perspective and he’s using some interesting frameworks. I hope to borrow from some of the things that are working for him.

Week seventy-two was another busy one. I’m glad it’s over. Looking forward to a nice weekend!

Early founders are usually down in the weeds of their business. Resources being limited, everyone is doing everything. The founder is usually the only person who understands how all the pieces fit together. I like to think of the company as a galley and the founder as the person who makes sure everyone rows in sync. An incredibly valuable role in the early days, but not the founder’s only role. Founders are also responsible for making sure the ship is headed in the right direction. A critical role some founders lose sight of. The rowers can be doing an amazing job, so the ship’s moving at a nice clip, but it will run aground if it’s pointed the wrong way.

Evaluating the business from a high level when you’re constantly down in the weeds is easier said than done. I struggled with it for years. Something always needs to be fixed or improved. I found it was helpful to force myself to think about the big picture by scheduling time to talk about the business with outsiders. I used an advisor and a peer group. They didn’t want to hear about the latest customer service ticket—they wanted to know what I was doing now that would help me achieve my three-year goal. Some of those conversations were the catalysts for making hires that got me out of the weeds.

If you’re an early founder deep in the weeds, ask yourself: How am I going to make sure my ship doesn’t run aground?

I listened to an investor share his life story recently. He’s made some timely investments that have done extremely well. I always enjoy hearing the stories of successful people because most contain a golden nugget (something others can learn from). Most of what you read about such people talks about their successes, but their journeys usually include massive failures. This story was no different. This investor was kicked out of college before he got his act together. My biggest takeaway was the amount of preparation that went into his success. He spent a decade refining his investment style before he realized a sizeable return. Many of his investments went to zero, but he learned from each one.

Some believe the path to success can be short. I disagree. I’ve yet to meet anyone successful who got there overnight. Years, if not decades, of hard work position people for eventual successful.

If you want to do something great, you must be committed and put in the work. There are no shortcuts in life. For those of you who aspire to be successful, settle in—it’s going to be a long ride!

I had a great conversation with another investor who’s had an interesting journey. He worked in corporate America learning hard skills out of undergrad. Then he joined a start-up as an early employee. His skills helped the start-up minimize painful learnings and release a superior product in less time. Equity was part of his compensation package. Eventually, he made his way to venture capital and learned how to invest in early-stage companies. The start-up he’d worked at years before went public, and his early equity turned into a significant financial windfall. He began doing personal angel investments, and now he’s planning to raise a fund to help founders in his area of expertise.  

He understands start-up life and entrepreneurship from various perspectives. Now he’s taking what he’s learned and the wealth he has amassed from his journey and using them to help more founders become successful.

People like this have a huge impact on start-up ecosystems. The combination of capital, operator knowledge, and relationships can be game-changing for early founders. I look forward to watching this investor transition to fund manager. I’m sure he and his team will move his space forward!

I was chatting with a close friend who needed to make a big decision. I listened as he talked through all the things going through his head. He listed the pros and cons of each path he was considering. Toward the end of the conversation, I realized he was afraid to make the wrong decision and his fear had paralyzed him.

As a founder, I learned that indecision could kill my company (a few times, it almost did). I didn’t want my company to die, so I learned to make decisions more quickly. I was still afraid they could be wrong. I got over this by telling myself that incorrect decisions were inevitable, and they weren’t mistakes, they were just painful lessons that improved future decision-making.

As I got more confident in my decision-making and leadership, I learned to distinguish between what my gut was telling me and what my brain was telling me. I realized that my gut usually gave me a quick answer on what I should do, and my brain rationalized why I should do something but it took more time. I eventually figured out that my gut was usually right and leveraged it more in my decision-making. I would listen to my gut to decide what I was going to do (and write it down). If I needed to have others execute the decision, I leveraged my brain to articulate the reasons for my decision. Otherwise, I’d just execute it myself and not worry about the why.

Making decisions is one of the biggest responsibilities of founders. You can’t avoid them or put them off. They must be made. Luckily, everyone can have their own decision-making style, and no one expects perfection. Whatever your approach, always strive to improve it, because the better you get at making decisions the more likely your company is to succeed.

I recently went shopping and encountered a surprising sales style. The salesperson was knowledgeable, but he didn’t seem to care if I bought the product I was interested in. He wasn’t pushy or even trying to close the deal. He merely suggested I test out the product. I did, and I was impressed. A few days later, I bought it. Afterward, I asked the salesperson why he was indifferent to my purchasing decision. He said the product is so great that it sells itself and that if I didn’t buy it, someone else would—he sees a constant flow of people who are ready to buy.

This company has done a great job of understanding the pains of their customer and creating a product that solves them magnificently. Potential customers test the product, immediately see the value it creates, and are ready to pay for that value. The salesperson is there to answer questions, but the product itself is doing all the selling.

Lots of early founders want to focus on sales and marketing after they launch their product. They believe that’s the key to growth. Both functions are important to any business. But in the early days, founders should be laser focused on their product as the key to growth. An amazingly good sales and marketing strategy is to make a product so wonderful that people easily understand the value it creates for them. Happy customers spread the word to others. When those folks try it, they’ll love it and buy it, and they’ll spread the word.

If you’re an early founder concerned about sales and market, ask yourself: Is your product good enough to market and sell itself?

I’ve been following the recent news about Nikola Corp. founder and former chairman Trevor Milton. He’s been charged with misleading investors. I have no views on his guilt or innocence, but his situation reminded me of conversations I’ve had with founders.

Many early founders are optimistic about their companies. To survive, they have to be. The chips are stacked against them. If founders focus on the million things that could go wrong, it’s hard to motivate teams to run through walls. So, many of them see the glass as half full and focus on what could go right. I like this approach. It’s what teams need to do the impossible.

But . . . though optimism is great, there’s a line that founders shouldn’t cross. They should be clear about what has happened versus what they’re planning for. Saying you’ve hired a rock star CTO is different than saying a CTO will come on board shortly when you conclude final negotiations. One’s a done deal. The other’s an expectation. Founders can get themselves in hot water if they position something as having already been concluded when it hasn’t. Even if it’s highly likely it will happen soon. Maybe it won’t. Maybe Murphy’s Law will kick in. Or maybe the founder’s view of what’s “highly likely” is skewed by his rose-colored glasses.

Founders should be optimistic but also clear with all stakeholders. Optimism without transparency will erode trust over time. If a team doesn’t trust its leader, it’s doomed.

Today marks the end of my seventy-first week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week seventy-one:

• Rhythm – Lots of things were going on this week, but I was in a good rhythm and one top of it all. I felt organized and proactive instead of chaotic and reactive.
• Conviction – I watched some interesting interviews of successful people on YouTube. All of them mentioned gaining confidence in bold moves by having conviction. This stuck with me, and I’ve been thinking about it all week.
• Knowledge sharing – I want to be more proactive about learning things in areas I’m curious about. Digital communities are a great source of knowledge.

Week seventy-one was a busy one. Lots of good things happened. I felt like I was productive and ended the week on a high note.

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One of my biggest takeaways from my time in corporate America was that every company has issues. I was doing consulting work, which basically meant my team helped companies solve problems they couldn’t solve on their own. I was fortunate enough to count some of the biggest Fortune 500 companies as clients. I’m talking iconic brands in Super Bowl commercials. From the outside looking in, I thought these companies had it all figured out and were well-oiled machines (kudos to their marketing departments). In reality, I usually found a large and constantly evolving organization that had a serious problem in a core area —one that wasn’t materially impacting revenue yet but that could derail the company if left unaddressed.

When I talk with early founders now, I try to remind them that every company has weaknesses. It’s normal. The great founders I know are aware of the problems in their companies and working to address them. It’s a never-ending cycle. They communicate their issues to others and seek help to resolve them. (When people have a clear understanding of what you need help with, they’re more likely to help you.)

If you’re a founder and feel you must present your company as perfect, I suggest you think again. Perfection doesn’t exist in business. Being open with others about your issues could be the key to resolving them!