Over the last few months, we’ve spoken to a number of start-up leaders about the challenges of running their businesses, and about their career journeys. Below, we’ve collected some of their best tips for current & aspiring startup founders. You can also scroll to the end of this article to read their interviews in full.
We always love to hear from you about your career journeys, so get in touch if you’d happy be interviewed for an article.
1. Ben, MD Europe at Pollen, on the one piece of advice to others looking to start their own business:
Hire good people, trust them and pay them well. You have to remember the human element – let people work (reasonable) hours, treat them well while they are at work, and then let them go home to their real friends and families.
2. Siadhal, Co-Founder & CEO at Metaview, on nailing your product:
Have as many conversations with prospects and customers as possible, to the point that interactions become almost completely predictable.
3. James, Global Head of Marketing at Naked Wines, on smaller companies looking to grow their teams during the pandemic:
Be open to recruiting online. If there’s a business need, move ahead; don’t wait for this to all be over, but do adapt your hiring process.
4. Craig, Commercial Director at Welbeck Health Partners, on building your career:
My old manager always used to draw a circle on a piece of paper to represent the world, and a small dot to represent you – to illustrate the point that whatever is going in is just a tiny piece of the puzzle. There’s more to life out there; don’t take yourself too seriously!
5. Rania, Business Strategist, MD, Founder & Trustee, on starting a business as an ex-consultant:
I’d recommend networking & learning about that ecosystem a lot – there are conferences, incubators, talking to other founders…
6. Freddy, Co-Founder & CEO of Wild Cosmetics on hiring:
You always want to be really busy before you hire. Of course, the challenge then is that you are busy so you want to hire someone quickly – but that’s exactly when you want to take your time.
7. Robert, COO of Techspace, on hiring:
Think about what you need this role to do, what problem it needs to solve now. But then also think about where you need this role to be in 6 months or a year. Especially in fast-growing companies, you might need the first hire to be more senior than the immediate problem suggests.
8. Aude, Co-Founder of Innovafeed, on consultants founding businesses:
Start finding the right people early. It’s so important to get the right people. You need to know what you want (i.e., vision), but the key thing is finding great people to achieve that vision.
Interested in reading more? Take a look at the full interviews below:
- Ben, Pollen https://www.movemeon.com/insight/startup-advice-from-md-at-pollen/
- Siadhal, Metaview https://www.movemeon.com/insight/product-at-uber-betfair-co-founder-ceo-at-metaview/
- James, Naked Wines https://www.movemeon.com/insight/james-naked-wines/
- Freddy, Wild Cosmetics https://www.movemeon.com/insight/wild-cosmetics/
- Craig, Welbeck Health Partners https://www.movemeon.com/insight/welbeck/
- Rania, Business Strategist, MD, Founder & Trustee https://www.movemeon.com/insight/we-talk-to-rania-of-grogro-about-launching-and-exiting-a-startup/
- Robert, Techspace https://www.movemeon.com/insight/techspace-coo-robert-stevenson/
- Aude, Innovafeed https://www.movemeon.com/insight/aude-co-founder-of-innovafeed-challenges-inherent-in-scaling-how-consulting-skillset-can-solve-them/
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