This week, I shared some lessons I’ve learned with Startup Summer School attendees. One of the biggest was how important a cofounder is. I started CCAW as a solo founder. Even though it worked out—CCAW was a success—it was painful. Our progress was slower than it could have been and I was stretched super thin. I’ve thought more about why a cofounder is so beneficial. One word sums it up: accountability.

I often hear “not having to report to anyone” and “being my own boss” as top reasons for being an entrepreneur. But the most successful entrepreneurs are accountable to someone: a board of directors, cofounders, investors. Accountability leads to success. No accountability can prevent or slow your success. Why is that?

Accountability means that you’re expected to deliver on commitments by taking action. Others are relying on you. If you don’t deliver, there are clear repercussions for yourself and others. Translation: you can’t do whatever you want, whenever you want.

When you’re accountable to no one, you don’t have to commit. No commitment means no clear repercussions. Translation: you think you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. Entrepreneurship is all about taking action to meet a goal. But when you’re not accountable to anyone, you tend to take action when you want to, not when you need to. Over time, no action or slow action hinders you. And you shortchange yourself and everyone who works for you but doesn’t have the power to hold you accountable.

If you’re starting a company, try not to go it alone. And whatever you’re doing, find a way to make yourself accountable to someone.

Today marked the end of my twelfth week of working exclusively from home. Here is my takeaway from week twelve:

• Focus – We’re experiencing troubling times as a nation. It took a big toll on me. I was distracted and struggled to focus. Talking through this with others helped a lot.  

Week twelve was a rough week. Ironically, it had nothing to do with working from home. My big takeaway: Understanding each other will lead us to appreciate each other.

I’ll continue to learn from this unique situation, adjust as necessary, and share my experience.

In an earlier post, I shared my views on the power of listening to understand. I’ve continued to think about how we can help each other through this turmoil.

As CCAW grew, our team grew. I was no longer involved in every decision or even aware of every initiative. An empowered team making decisions without me was my goal. Inevitably, some decisions didn’t result in the desired outcome. Translation: things blew up sometimes.

No one is perfect, and my team members had good intentions. We were all in it together, working to build a great company. Naturally, we sometimes had different ideas about how to do it. Our different perspectives were valuable and often lead to amazing outcomes. But sometimes they caused us to miss the mark.

By the time something reached my desk, it usually meant a decision had worked out poorly. Instead of beating a dead horse, I learned to focus on the reasons for the decision. Why did you do it that way? Why was that the chosen path? What led up to you making that decision? Asking these questions was far more valuable than casting blame. I listened with the intent to understand, and ultimately, I did—I understood their why. Then I was able to work with them to develop solutions that supported their why.

Understanding why begets perspective. More importantly, it gives insight into the other person’s perspective. Understanding why someone makes the choices they do is a building block in (or even the foundation of) the positive working relationship required to achieve a common goal.

We’re all in this together, but that doesn’t mean we all see things the same way. Consider listening to understand why. When you do, you can begin to see things from a different perspective.

You might be interested in this short video about Colin Kaepernick's and Army veteran Nate Boyer’s desire to understand one another. It led Nate to “understand that we’re not that different, and we probably want the same things at the end of the day” and to a compromise that incorporated both perspectives.

Be part of the solution. Understand why.

Today I had the pleasure of teaching an Atlanta Tech Village (ATV) Startup Summer School course over Zoom. It was the first Intro to Entrepreneurship course. The turnout was great—kudos to the ATV staff for organizing everything.

I enjoyed the experience, and I’m appreciative of the opportunity. Here are some of my takeaways:

• Zoom – It felt weird not seeing the audience as I presented. I wasn’t able to gauge whether it was going well. Based on the questions at the end, I think it did, but I was flying blind before that.
• Gaps – Entrepreneurship is fraught with unknowns. Courses like this one can accelerate your trajectory by filling your knowledge and relational gaps.
• Flashbacks – I was in their shoes years ago, but I’d forgotten how helpful it is when fundamental questions are answered. It connect the dots. Sometimes the little things make a big difference.  I was reminded of my aha! moments as I learned from more experienced entrepreneurs.
• Focus – Preparing the material, I realized how much information is out there for new entrepreneurs. I tried to help them focus on the things that matter most at this early stage.  
• Interest – I was surprised by the number of attendees. Apparently, many people want to become entrepreneurs, which is great.
• Nervousness – I was nervous before I started talking, which felt odd. After a while I settled in and relaxed as I spoke from experience.
• Hindsight – The things I discussed seem simple, looking back, but to new entrepreneurs they feel hard if not impossible. The view is different from the top of the mountain—something to look forward to!

I was pleased with how the course turned out, and I hope the information was useful. Without others helping me early on, I would have failed. With that in mind, I want to continue helping rising entrepreneurs and giving back.  

Startup Summer School is a nine-week bootcamp with weekly courses taught by instructors who volunteer their time. Check out the ATV schedule and sign up if you’re interested.

I’ve been thinking deeply about what’s needed to see us through these troubling times. I shared some things I’ve learned in yesterday’s post. Today, as I sorted through my thoughts, I read a quote that resonated with me:

Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.

                                                                ~ John Steinbeck

The best way to understand someone is to listen to them—to not just hear their words, but to pay attention to what they believe and what they feel. When we understand each other, we can relate to each other. When we relate to each other, we can appreciate our differences and love each other. If we don’t listen, or we let their words flow by while we formulate our rebuttal, or we mindlessly dismiss them, we will not understand them (and we will give them no chance to understand us).

So where do we start? No one knows what the solution looks like. That makes it hard to know what to do. As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned the power of taking a step in the right direction even when the path is nearly invisible. Often, I had no idea what I was doing, but I sorted it out as I went along. Always, I kept my eye on the outcome I hoped for. I see our current state of affairs as no different.

If you want to take that first step, here’s my suggestion:

Reach out to someone with a background different than yours—someone with a perspective on life that you might not understand. Ask them if they’re OK and if they want to talk. If they say yes, just listen.

This act is simple but powerful. Anyone can do it. You might be interested in this short video about one person who did it and how it affected the person he struck up a conversation with. If many of us do it, we will open lines of communication that will lead to what we sorely need: an understanding of each other.

Be part of the solution.

As CCAW grew, I had to learn how to lead. It wasn’t always pretty. At times, I was very uncomfortable doing it. Leaders have to make tough decisions. Unpopular decisions. Sometimes you do your best, but you get it wrong anyway. Like all leaders, I experienced self-doubt. Eventually, though, I settled on a style that worked for me.

I’m not lively or outspoken, so being a boisterous leader was out. It just didn’t feel right. But that was OK. I chose to lead by example instead. It’s subtle but powerful, effective, and authentic. I communicated how I envisioned CCAW operating (fairly, respectfully, and ethically) and was deliberate in aligning my behavior with that vision. I tried to hold myself to the same standard that I held everyone else to. I wasn’t special or exempt. The team noticed and followed my lead. They treated everyone they interacted with as they would want to be treated and we became known as a well-run, upstanding organization.

No one is perfect and I’m sure I had my days, but I tried to always be deliberative. Of course, I did make bad decisions sometimes, and here are my takeaways from them:

• Owning it – Acknowledge your mistake quickly. I tried to reflect and share what I learned from a bad decision. I wanted my team to know that it’s OK when things don’t turn out as planned as long as we learn from the situation. They appreciated it.
• Doubling down – I lost my team’s respect when I refused to own a mistake and instead doubled down. Don’t throw good money after bad. Once respect is lost, it’s difficult to regain it. And it’s impossible to win the war if the troops stop following.
• Letting go – Leaders can’t make all the decisions. It’s impossible to know everything about a complex organization. I learned to acknowledge my gaps and defer to others who had more knowledge in specific areas. Empowering people motivates them.
• Listening – Sometimes people just want to be heard. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and their own perspective. It’s OK to disagree with someone, but it’s disrespectful to them when you refuse to listen. And sometimes you learn something by being open to what others have to say.

We can’t expect perfection from anyone. But leaders should hold themselves to a high standard—one that’s at least as high as the one to which they hold their team. If they don’t, their lack of integrity will erode trust and divide the team over time.

What have you learned from your mistakes as a leader?

There’s nothing new under the sun. What happens today is the past with a twist. Think of a remake of a classic movie. Same storyline, new cast, better technology, bigger budget, a few plot tweaks.

Why am I talking about this? Simple . . . knowing it’s true improves the likelihood that I’ll achieve my goals. Being aware of the past improves my decision making at critical junctures. I’m less likely to make fateful decisions at forks in the road that jeopardize what I’m trying to do.

I’ve embraced history more than ever before. It never excited me in school. In fact, I hated it. Now, I enjoy it. It’s a vast trove of experiences to draw upon. The more I learn about history, the more clearly I see the present and understand what I need to do today and in the future.

I think that entrepreneurs should study history—at least the part of it that’s most relevant to them. History is full of great entrepreneurs who built amazing companies. Their stories may not make or break your journey, but they will inform it . . . inspire it . . . add interest to it.

Next time you’re in a difficult situation, consider: “What is this a remake of?”

Friday marked the end of my eleventh week of working exclusively from home. Here are my takeaways from week eleven:

• Memorial Day – I took a day off, but I didn’t go back to work recharged. Connecting with others is what I like most about holidays. Less socializing diminished the holiday joy.
• New work normal – I’m thinking of testing working in a private office in a smaller building with fewer people. I think I’d be more comfortable doing that than going back to my former crowded office. I’ll research spaces and explore subleasing.
• Macro – Lots of granular things are happening daily. It’s noisy and distracting. And it makes it difficult to understand what’s occurred from a macro perspective. I decided to start focusing on the forest more than the trees. I want to identify where things are headed.

Week eleven was a short but good week. My big takeaway: Get away from the noisy details and look at things from fifty thousand feet.  

I’ll continue to learn from this unique situation, adjust as necessary, and share my experience.

Founding teams have been on my mind lately. I’m curious about what traits increase their chances of success. I’ve heard many opinions on this, but the Hipster–Hacker–Hustler concept kept coming up. I decided to look into it further. Here’s what I found:

• Hipster – The Hipster focuses on the product being desirable to customers. They think about things like user experience and product design. They tend to be in tune with what’s trendy and cool. They have a unique customer-driven perspective.
• Hacker – The Hacker is the builder. Building new stuff excites them and they can focus intensely on it. They are driven by data and logic. They see the world as black and white and may not have as much charisma.
• Hustler – The Hustler makes sure that things get done. They relate well with people and are persuasive. They can hold people accountable to results, sell to customers, and rally people behind their vision.

I think this is a great template for a founding team. It probably won’t work in all instances, but it’s a good framework to consider.

I’m a Hustler for sure. I’m laser focused on achieving the desired result, enjoy talking with people, and take psychological ownership of what I say I’ll do. As I kid, I convinced neighbors and classmates to become customers. I bootstrapped CCAW from nothing to eight-figure revenue. All by being a Hustler. At times it was painful, but I learned a lot about others and myself. I can see now how a Hipster and Hacker could have added a lot of value and accelerated CCAW’s success.

I encourage rising entrepreneurs to consider the makeup of their founding team. Being a solo founder can work against you. So can having a team of founders with similar expertise and perspectives. Diversity is important and can lead to amazing things!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of sharing my story—the story of CCAW—with a group of rising entrepreneurs. The dinner that was scheduled ended up being a Zoom meeting because of the pandemic. This group was the inaugural cohort of Cox Enterprises Social Impact Accelerator Powered by Techstars. Techstars runs accelerators in various cities worldwide, including Atlanta.

Accelerators are three-month programs that give entrepreneurs “funding, mentorship and access to the Techstars network for life.” Techstars accelerators give entrepreneurs access to a lot of really smart people—including past and present entrepreneurs in the Techstars network—who can help them fast-track their progress and otherwise support them.

Demo days are a great way for entrepreneurs to get introduced to customers and potential investors. The cohort’s demo day was held virtually today and is available for anyone to view here.

I was happy to share my story with this cohort, and I wish every member success on his or her journey!