What mindset helps founders handle uncertainty when starting out?

Eric Ries

Chair, LTSE Services · Long-Term Stock Exchange

Continuous trial-and-error learning

Eric Ries recommends founders put themselves in positions where they repeatedly have to demonstrate domain knowledge, because the constant trial and error of failing and learning makes them domain experts surprisingly quickly.

Marc Minor

Cofounder and CEO · Higharc

Learn fast

Marc Minor recommends that founders start learning as fast as possible, saying nobody knows what they're doing and it's best to focus on your slope over your intercept.

The answer starts at 15:19.

Oscar Levy

Co-Founder

Just do it

Oscar Levy agrees with the "just do it" answer, saying you get the world to give you information—try selling your idea or hiring someone—and you're never ready for something you've never experienced.

Jon Lensing MD

Co-Founder and CEO · OpenLoop

Always be experimenting

Jon Lensing recommends always experimenting and trying things, because most might not work but the ones that do get you to another level.

Jonathan Awad

Co-Founder, CEO · Baselayer

Give before product

Jonathan Awad recommends founders give value to people ahead of their product, saying it's the hack: figure out what someone wants, deliver it first, and give expecting nothing.

Angelique Taylor

Founder · Addmaple

Design a small test

Angelique Taylor recommends founders design a small test—something doable enough they cannot not do it—to evaluate their idea and take away some of the risk overhead.

Maik Taro Wehmeyer

Co-Founder & CEO · Taktile

Product first, customers first, revenue first

Maik Taro Wehmeyer advises founders to always put product first, customers first, and revenue first, noting that with those same numbers a fundraise can still be good or bad.

Matthew Wilson

Co-founder and CEO · Jack and Jill

Trust your gut

Matthew Wilson says founders should trust their gut, a lesson he learned the hard way, because it's easy to be talked out of decisions you know are right and no one else has all your context.

The answer starts at 41:16.

Scarlett Stanhope

Founder & Financial Empowerment Coach · The Biz Hippie | Empowered Abundance

Accept setbacks as normal

Scarlett Stanhope recommends changing your perspective on progress so you accept the pullbacks and "three steps back" as a normal part of growth, rather than beating yourself up, and then recommit and move forward.

Keith Peiris

Co-Founder · Lightfield

Build something you love

Keith Peiris recommends founders build something they love, saying a startup is personal and you need to be emotionally obsessed to work on it every waking hour, which means customers will be as obsessed.

Yasser Elsaid

CEO · Chatbase

Ignore the noise

Yasser Elsaid says it may be useful for founders building in a fast-moving industry to ignore the noise, since listening to what everyone else says in the space is a trap.

Sarah Buchner

Founder & CEO · Trunk Tools, Inc.

Therapy

Sarah Buchner recommends therapy, saying she's been in it since she was 18 and it is invaluable for staying sane and for knowing yourself and your patterns to become a better manager.

The answer starts at 13:40.

FL

Forrest Li

Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer · Sea Limited

Never give up

Forrest Li advises founders to never give up, saying that with self-belief and conviction there is always a way, and that if you keep going, problems sometimes solve themselves.

Stan Suchkov

CEO · Evolve

Be brave enough to admit mistakes

Stan Suchkov recommends founders be brave enough to admit their mistakes, saying that pivoting shows you're focused, want results, and aren't scared to admit you did something wrong.

Sridhar Ramaswamy

Chief Executive Officer · Snowflake

Believe in yourself

Sridhar Ramaswamy says founders need to believe they can do something better, calling every startup an act of believing; he says that conviction in who you are makes you act with purpose.

Vivek Vaidya

Co-Founder/CTO · Kana

Sell tomorrow's tech today

Vivek Vaidya says founders should sell tomorrow's technology today, calling selling ahead of the curve most important, because negotiations and contracts give enough time to actually build it.

Sasha Orloff

Member of Staff · Accrual

Stay optimistic

Sasha Orloff advises founders to stay strong and optimistic, saying it can get tough but to power through it and build a network of support.

Victor Cardenas Codriansky

Co-Founder, CEO · Slash

Focus on customers

Victor Cardenas Codriansky advises early-stage founders to focus on customers, saying they should just be writing code and talking to their customers and that's it.

Aizada Marat

CEO & Founder · Alma

Don’t marry to your idea too early

Aizada Marat advises founders not to marry their idea too early, saying they shouldn't fall in love with it and get defensive, but should test whether people will pay before starting.

Neka Pasquale LAc MS

Founder & Chief Product Officer · Urban Remedy

Hold your vision

Neka Pasquale says founders should always hold their vision for the company, since investment pressures can lead to decisions misaligned with how they see the business and it can go sideways.

Gary Vaynerchuk

Chairman of VaynerX, CEO of VaynerMedia · Vaynerx

Just start

Gary Vaynerchuk recommends just starting, saying that if you don't start, you don't get, and that not starting because you're late or worried about how it looks is always a bad idea.

Trust your own judgment

Max Hodak recommends founders trust their own judgment, making decisions that make sense to them even when alone, since you can't delegate judgment and it's the only path to big outcomes.

Sam Altman

Chief Executive Officer · OpenAI

Stop waiting for broad validation

Sam Altman says founders should stop waiting for broad validation and instead find their five people, not 500, because he warns that zero agreement or everyone agreeing are both bad signs.

Alex Konrad

Founder and Editor · Upstarts Media

Be decisive

Alex Konrad says the number one thing that makes a successful founder is decisiveness: you will always have imperfect information, so you cannot agonize over it and just have to own the decision.

Shaju Puthussery

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer · LightSpun

Be humble

Shaju Puthussery recommends founders be humble, saying that if you focus on the right product, customer, employee, and culture, money will come.

Secure a beachhead first

Travis Kalanick says founders should get the foothold, or beachhead, working first, and only then let their imagination loose on new bets like Uber Eats or Freight. He warns against making both bets at once from a standing start.

Gabrielle Marquez

Founder Solutions Lead · Finstrat Management

Talk to customers

Gabrielle Marquez recommends talking to your clients or customers, saying there is no substitute for it and warning founders not to assume there is a problem someone will pay to solve.

Piyush Verma

Co-Founder/ CEO · Neural Defend

Don’t wait for the perfect moment

Piyush Verma advises founders not to wait for the perfect opportunity or right moment, but to start building whatever they have, take it to market, talk to customers and get feedback to improve it.

Ben Erez

Co-Founder · Insider Loops

Abundance mindset

Ben Erez recommends an abundance mindset over a scarcity mindset. He says it makes rejection feel like crossing one item off an infinite menu, while scarcity leads to fear and bad decisions.