Building Resilience as an Entrepreneur: My Key Learnings
Resilience is more than just a buzzword for entrepreneurs—it’s the backbone of survival and growth in the fast-paced world of startups. Through my journey, I’ve learned that resilience is not only about bouncing back but also about moving forward with greater strength, clarity, and focus. In this article, I’ll break down the layers of resilience that are essential for personal growth, team building, and organizational success.
The Psychology of Resilience
Resilience starts with the right mindset, driven by simplicity, focus, and priority. As founders, we have limited time and energy, so avoiding unnecessary complexities is crucial. I’ve found that resilience often involves getting back to basics and resetting after setbacks.
Drawing inspiration from stoicism, I’ve adopted virtues like courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. The core idea is that while we can’t control external events, we can control how we respond to them. For me, practices like jiu-jitsu have provided valuable lessons in strategic adaptability, emphasizing the importance of staying calm and focused under pressure.
Cultivating Personal Resilience
Personal resilience is rooted in a balanced approach to mental and physical well-being:
- Physical fitness is a non-negotiable part of entrepreneurship. It’s crucial for maintaining the energy needed to face daily challenges. A great resource that has influenced me is Peter Attia's "Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity," which emphasizes the balance of physical and mental resilience.
- Planning for recovery is another key strategy. I systematically monitor my well-being, identifying red flags early and making necessary adjustments.
- Financial anti-fragility is also vital. I focus on building discernment—the ability to see things as they truly are, not as I wish them to be. This helps me make better decisions and stay grounded, even in uncertain times.
- Winston Churchill's words resonate deeply with me: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” This mantra has guided me through both triumphs and setbacks.
Effective Decision-Making
Resilient entrepreneurship relies on sound decision-making. Here are some frameworks I’ve found useful:
- A few key decisions can drive long-term success. This insight reminds me to focus on making strategic choices rather than trying to solve every problem at once.
- Inversion, a technique popularized by Charlie Munger, involves looking at situations from different angles. I’ve found this approach helpful for identifying potential pitfalls and exploring alternative solutions.
- Simplification under pressure is essential. During high-stress moments, I try to break down complex situations into simple, actionable steps. The pandemic highlighted the importance of adapting quickly, with three main outcomes: increased government support, a shift to remote selling, and adjusted fundraising strategies.
Team Resilience
Building a resilient team starts with creating a culture of psychological safety, where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas and challenges. Here’s what I focus on:
- Establishing clear goals and regularly gathering feedback to refine strategies.
- Encouraging transparency and open communication to foster trust and collaboration.
Organizational Resilience
On a larger scale, resilience involves aligning values, structure, and culture within the organization. Some key principles that guide me include:
- Separate ownership from operations: While co-founders must align on vision, their roles should be distinct to ensure clarity and accountability.
- Emphasizing mission, core values, and a learning culture helps maintain focus, even during tough times.
- Financial discipline is crucial—never run out of cash. Implementing effective financial systems and engaging a fractional CFO have proven beneficial in my experience.
Frameworks for Entrepreneurial Resilience
As an entrepreneur, I’ve come across several frameworks that enhance resilience:
- Growth mindset: Embracing a mindset of continuous learning and adaptability, inspired by Carol Dweck, has been pivotal for me.
- Mentorship and coaching have also played a significant role, offering guidance and support during challenging phases.
- Anti-fragility principles: Learning to thrive amid uncertainty and building systems that gain strength from volatility has transformed how I approach setbacks.
Final Reflections
One of the most powerful questions I’ve encountered is: “How did you deal with miserable failure?” Reflecting on my personal experiences has helped me develop a deeper understanding of resilience. It’s not just about enduring difficulties, but about growing stronger and wiser through them.
In entrepreneurship, resilience is not an option—it’s a necessity. Your ability to adapt, learn, and lead with clarity and focus will be your greatest asset. Remember, the journey is tough, but it’s also rewarding if you learn to embrace the challenges along the way.
Resilience Class with Brice Scheschuk
1. Introduction: Psychology & Resilience
- Talent First Approach
- Reference: CEO of NVIDIA’s speech at Stanford
- Key values:
- Integrity
- 19 Principles to avoid pain, including:
- High Integrity
- Confidently Coachable
- Intelligent Curiosity
2. Building Personal Resilience
- Focus, Priority, Simplicity
- Founders need short, impactful lessons, as they have limited time for dense content.
- "Go back to where you were before" – the emphasis on resilience as a return to form.
- Stoicism:
- Key virtues: Courage, Temperance, Justice, Wisdom.
- "You don’t control what happens; you control how you respond."
- Example: Jiu-Jitsu as a metaphor for resilience.
- Winston Churchill: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts."
- Teaching Failure to Kids:
- Quote from Dr. Angela Duckworth: “Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.”
- Paul Graham (YC Founder) and Elon Musk emphasize obsession and perseverance.
- Physical Well-being:
- Essential for entrepreneurship (speaker’s name needs to be checked).
- Plan for Recovery:
- Systematic approach to well-being.
- Practice self-awareness to identify well-being red flags.
- "Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity" by Peter Attia
- Link to book
- Discusses physical vs. mental resilience.
- Financial Anti-Fragility:
- Principle Three: Discernment – the ability to see what truly exists.
- "Scale Your Everest: How to be a Resilient Entrepreneur"
3. Key Insights from Thought Leaders
- Warren Buffet:
- Success results from a few good decisions, e.g., Coca-Cola and American Express.
- Charlie Munger:
- "Invert, always invert" – a decision-making framework to look at situations backward.
- The Psychology of Human Misjudgment
- Decision-Making Frameworks:
- Dane Jensen – "The Power of Pressure"
- Long-term perspective: Connect with why it matters.
- Peak Pressure Moments: Simplify plans, focus on direct paths.
- Three outcomes from the pandemic:
- Government Support
- Selling Remote
- Fundraising and Runway
- Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck: Embracing learning and adaptability.
4. Team Resilience
- Psychological Safety:
- Essential for fostering resilience within teams.
- Implement processes: reconvene after achieving goals, openly share feedback, agree on findings, and implement improvements.
5. Organizational Resilience
- Organizational Resilience Insights:
- Referenced article from the UK.
- Key frameworks by Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Deloitte.
- Principle 14: Character and integrity as foundational elements.
- Principle 15: Co-founder alignment, separating ownership from operations.
- Principle 16: Effective board structures.
- Principle 17:
- Ben Horowitz’s book, "What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture"
- Focus on mission, core values, culture, learning, and compounding growth.
- Principle 18: Never run out of money – maintaining financial discipline.
- Principle 19: Build financial function effectiveness.
- Use fractional CFOs and foundational systems.
Additional Competencies
- Mentors / Coaches: Their role in building personal and team resilience.
- Frameworks: Many frameworks were discussed, focusing on practical applications for resilience.
Questions for Reflection
- "How did you deal with miserable failure? Tell your own story."
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