The startup journey is filled with ambiguity and uncertainty on a good day. In this new normal we are living in - the same advice still applies with heightened uncertainty. The good news is that you are not in this alone. It is more important than ever to find communities that can support you, your startup journey by equpping you with the tools, insight and connections to help fuel your growth. Doing your research to figure out which organizations, communitites and tools you should tap into requires some work, but can pay off exponentially in the end. Here at the League of Innovators, we work specifically with entrepreneurs under the age of 25 all across Canada through a suite of free, virtual and sector agnostic businesses founded by individuals and teams of diverse backgrounds. There is a wealth of different support systems out there and it’s your job as an entrepreneur to know when and where to tap in.
The League of Innovators community had the opportunity to sit down (virtually) with one of our supporters, Jonah Mindak, Managing Director of Acceleprise. Acceleprise is a B2B SaaS accelerator based in Toronto, New York and San Francisco. We talked about growing a business in this new normal. Here’s some of our favourite key takeaways from what Jonah had to say. We think it’s great advice.
- Whatever the issue, make it about something bigger.
- Gather your people and tell them the honest truth.
- Think offensively. Defence doesn’t win markets.
- Think differently. Put literally every crazy idea you have out there.
- Work on a plan with you team(s). Have people step in your shoes and share your thought process.
- Be around even more. Leaders need to be visible.
- Do the hard things. You can’t help anyone if you’re bankrupt.
- Empathy and people first always.
- Lead with value and curiosity.
- There is no one way to build business. Do what feels right to you.
At the end of the day, it’s all about taking that first step on your entrepreneurial journey and finding your champions and cheerleaders every step of the way of building your business. No matter where you are in your journey always aspire to learn more and hustle responsibly. If you are an aspiring or current entrepreneur, we hope these words of wisdom resonate with you and encourage you to check out the different free and virtual resources and programs LOI has to offer. Ready to get started? Build your entrepreneurial skills with our Innovators Academy. Ready to build? Sign ups are open for Foundations, an idea-stage pre-incubator course to get you started in building your minimum lovable product (MVP) ready to sell. Ready to accelerate? Applications for LABS incubator are also open until June 30th, 2020.
Not only that, but realize there are a ton of amazing organizations out there like Acceleprise that are willing to help too. Joining the League of Innovators network is just scratching the surface even with the awesome partners we have in our community, but nevertheless it’s a great place to start if you are a young entrepreneur. With that we’d like to leave it off with a quote from Jonah, “today is about leading the right way no matter the outcome.”
