Building a durable business: lessons from my exits

The Hidden Cost of Procrastination for Early Stage Founders. It’s often said that in any given market, only 2% of buyers are actively in the market at any given time. For the kind of work I do–helping early-stage founders transform their business–the percentage is likely far lower. Why? Because the issues I work on are not always “critical/make or break.” They’re latent. No immediate penalty for inaction. A founder can coast along nicely at $1–5M in revenue, “comfortable enough,” without confronting the deeper transformations required to break through the early struggle plateau. Comfort breeds complacency. Comfort will put you to sleep. Procrastination may feel safe in the moment, but its costs compound over time. 👉 Lost momentum: Opportunities pass you by while your competitors move faster and adapt quicker. 👉 Eroded morale: Teams sense when the founder is unclear and indecisive. Confidence slips, and so does performance. 👉 Shrinking relevance: Markets evolve. Customers’ expectations shift. What worked yesterday won’t carry you into tomorrow. Procrastination is not benign or neutral. It’s an active force working against you, slowly draining your energy, focus, and future potential. Founders who succeed aren’t always the smartest or best funded. They’re the ones who decide to act before circumstances force their hand. If you’re an early-stage founder at an inflection point asking, “What’s next?” Don’t wait until “later” becomes “too late.” The cost of waiting is always higher than the cost of acting.

If your business idea is weird and uncommon, don’t shrink it. You are in a rare league. I met a founder on Saturday. By the end of our conversation, I knew he’s an idealist. Full of ideas. Full of vision. He said: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵. Copying works for many but building something new is rare, and it deserves applause. I love that. Founders with clarity and vision excite me, no matter the type of project. You can laugh at dreamers. Call them unrealistic. Wish them failure. None of it changes the fact that some moments in business happen only once. The next Bill Gates won’t build an operating system. The next J.K. Rowling won’t build the Harry Potter universe. The next Walt Disney won’t create the Disney empire. First movers make something new. Something singular. Copying someone else? That’s taking what already exists and repeating it. Creating something new? That’s 0 to 1. It’s fresh, strange, and unique. But being first isn’t enough. Execution, timing, and persistence matter just as much as originality. Boldness is essential, but it needs a plan, even an imperfect one. The future favors disruptors. Copying old models now is too late. Your competition has the resources and know-how to crush a copycat. Look at fintechs trying to become traditional banks. They risk losing what makes them relevant. To survive, they must keep disrupting. Disruption rewards those who think differently and act relentlessly. PS: If you’re sitting on an idea or trying to scale a business that isn’t common, DM me and let’s help you bring it to life. ————- ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost to help someone building something ➕ Follow Adewumi Adeyanju for insights on leadership, teamwork, and business growth.

"Tell me about a time you changed your mind about something important in your business." Most founders stumble through this question, but their answer tells me what I need to know about whether they'll scale successfully or plateau at their current level of thinking. What I'm actually evaluating: Can this founder update their mental models when presented with new information? Do they see changing their mind as growth or as failure? How do they process being wrong? The best founders light up when discussing pivots, strategy shifts, or times they were completely off-base. They treat these moments as intellectual breakthroughs, not embarrassing admissions. Red flag responses: "I can't think of a specific example" (either they never change their mind or they don't learn from it). "Well, we had to pivot because of market conditions" (external blame, no ownership). "I knew it wasn't working but the team convinced me to change" (lack of conviction or intellectual honesty). Green flag responses: They walk you through their original reasoning, the specific data that changed their perspective, and how they communicated the shift to stakeholders. Why coachability predicts outcomes: Scaling a startup requires constantly updating your assumptions about customers, markets, hiring, and strategy. Founders who can't change their minds can't scale their companies. They hit walls at every stage because they optimize for being right rather than getting better. The most successful founders I've backed treat their own opinions as hypotheses to be tested, not truths to be defended.

Every founder knows that rush of excitement when a new idea hits. It feels fresh, powerful, like you’ve done half the work already. But the truth is, the real magic isn’t in the idea itself, it’s in the execution. That’s why multiple people can have the same idea, yet only a few make it work. You might see them succeed and think, “But I thought of that too!” the difference was how they executed. Take our space SUBA Capital, for instance. Many companies are solving the problem of access to capital — it’s a massive challenge in an equally large market. Some might even ask, “Why play in an already crowded fintech space?” The answer is simple: no single company can solve this alone. The market is vast, the needs are diverse, and the opportunities are endless. What sets us apart is how we’re choosing to execute — focusing on a specific segment of the market and playing to our strengths. So, if you’re sitting on an idea right now, don’t get discouraged by how many others are “doing the same thing.” Spend time refining how you’ll do it differently. Your execution is your edge. #founder #ideas #execution

It's the Age of the Founder, Not the CEO? When I started my first business Chessboard Cafe in 1996, I was so eager to call myself "CEO." I quickly learned there's a massive difference between being a Founder and a CEO. Most people assume becoming a CEO is the top of the mountain.  I don’t see it that way. Being a founder is harder and I know some will disagree. A Founder is forced to live by instinct.  Decisions without a safety net, trusting their gut before the data shows up. They carry the weight of vision and being the first responder when things go wrong. A founder's conviction has the ability to connect dots no one else can see. That’s why I keep coming back to nagging feeling. As markets shift and carousel of new CEOs take over failing companies. Is it the age of the founder? A founder mentality could be what's currently missing in business.  It’s (real-time learning) experience in disguise.  It’s awkward but necessary customer conversations. It's tough calls with no cash on the balance sheet to help you. A founder's mentality is what's necessary when competitors are breaking your code and rebuilding it and the clock is ticking. A founder's mentality is what's necessary when every new business model is disrupted - overnight.  When political or policy shifts are rewriting your margins.  When AI is changing entire job functions in a matter of weeks. In this kind of environment, governance keeps may keep your company safe, but for how long. Over breakfast with a retail executive, after walking stores that morning, I asked what information he truly trusted to make decisions. His answer was blunt: "Steve, forget the deck, forget the dashboard. I only trust a few signals - my intuition, my experience, and my people. For him, it came down to speed - how "quickly he could get to the truth and act." That’s founder energy. Now, don’t get me wrong, the CEO mindset has it's place. Scaling, systems, stakeholders - these will keep the company running. But a founder's mentality will do the things - that don't scale. So if you’re leading a team or running a startup right now, ask yourself: where have you leaned too heavily on process and lost the instinct that got you here? Are you leading more like a founder or a CEO these days? Shout out to some founders that are crushing it: Maximilian Anderson - SKUMAX Izzy Obeng MBE - Foundervine Ang Nayyar - StrutFit Abhijit Patharkar - Nexlytix Lucas Piccinin - NetConv Shop #founder #scale #retail #ceo

Is there really an Accountability Gap in Startup Advisory Relationships? Let’s be honest, advisory relationships in startups are rarely black and white. Advisors often get equity, yet unlike employees or investors, they usually don’t have performance KPIs tied to their role. For founders, this raises a fair concern: If I’m giving away a stake in my company, shouldn’t I at least have clear expectations attached to it? But here is the twist, advisory is not employment. It’s not investment either within this context. The nature of advisory is different: the value often shows up in subtle, hard-to-measure ways. A well-placed introduction, a tough question that reshapes a strategy, or the confidence that keeps a founder steady during chaos. These things don’t fit neatly into milestones, yet they can change the course of a company. So, how do we balance structure with flexibility? Here are my suggestions; 1. Set Clear Expectations, Not Rigid Targets; Advisory equity should not be a blank cheque, but it also shouldn’t be tied to unrealistic KPIs. Clarity on time commitment, areas of contribution, or key outcomes can keep the relationship grounded. 2. Respect the Nature of Advisory; Founders must understand that advisors are not hired staff. They bring perspective, not deliverables. The accountability framework must reflect this difference. 3. Measure Both Visible and Invisible Impact; Some wins can be tracked, others can only be felt. A balanced advisory relationship gives space for both. The accountability gap isn’t about whether advisors should have KPIs or not. It’s about designing advisory relationships where both sides feel the value is fair. Because at the end of the day, advisory is not just about equity shared, it’s about transformation shared. ID Freeman 30/09/2025 #freemandynasty

🏆 After speaking with nearly 200 entrepreneurs who have built proven, successful companies, a few insights stood out 1. Get the Market Right Jonathan Rosenberg—serial entrepreneur with two successful exits ($230M+)—put it simply: “If you get the market right (a burning hot market) and have a basic team, you can do very well.” You can have the smartest product and best talent, but if the market isn’t desperate for a solution, traction stalls. A “burning hot” market amplifies even an imperfect team. 2. Truly Understand Customer Problems Gregory C. Woodward, emphasized going beyond surface-level answers. He spoke directly with customers who had already bought—digging into their true pain points. That’s where the gold lies. When you build marketing and products that address the root frustrations of your ICP, you no longer need to “sell”—you resonate. 3. Hire With Guiding Principles Neeraj Satija, who helped 2 Degrees capture over 20% market share, explained that hiring is not just about skills. It’s about principles. Embedding a clear set of guiding values into every hire ensured that 2 Degrees operated with alignment across all departments—differentiating them in a competitive space. Culture, at scale, is built by design, not chance. 4. Hire for the Next Phase of Growth Steve Greenspon, who founded Honey-Can-Do and scaled it to $10M EBITDA, emphasized that scaling requires foresight in hiring. If a company is currently at $10M in revenue but has its sights on $100M, the leadership team must reflect that future. That might mean hiring a CEO or executives who have already navigated the $100M journey. In other words: don’t just hire for the business you are today—hire for the business you are becoming. When coupled with a strong culture and leaders motivated by the mission (not just personal gain), this creates the foundation for sustainable, exponential growth. 💡 The common thread? Market, customer, team. Without the right market, nothing else matters. Without real customer insight, growth is a shot in the dark. Without aligned people, success cannot be sustained. And without leaders who have “been there before,” scaling stalls before it begins. After hearing these perspectives repeatedly, I’m convinced: founders who obsess over these four pillars set themselves apart.

Why cutting costs during expansion can backfire It sounds strange, but sometimes the desire to do everything efficiently actually holds back business. 💡 I am sharing this observation because I see how many companies unconsciously slow down their own development by trying to “tighten their belts” just when they need to boldly pick up speed. When a company is in an active phase of expansion, the main task is to work quickly to achieve results. At SK Industries, we live by this rhythm: we test hypotheses, launch projects, and try new things. Some of them take off, some don't. But at this stage, it's more important to run boldly and quickly than to carefully calculate every step. Why am I so confident about this? Because I have many examples from real life. ✅ Yes, sometimes a day is spent planning tasks, or an advertising campaign does not deliver the expected results. We see that it would be possible to optimize costs or the structure of the work, but when scaling, it is not every percentage saved that is valuable, but the ability to quickly test ideas and move on. Our business, like many others, operates in cycles. There are seasons of expansion and periods of targeted optimization throughout the year. We only initiate global changes when the market or strategy requires it. For example, in the event of significant fluctuations in demand or geopolitical changes. 📉 It is important to understand that expansion and optimization are conflicting concepts. When a company focuses on growth, it inevitably sacrifices part of its optimization: it allows more spending on testing, experimentation, and mistakes. When the focus shifts toward optimization, the pace of growth naturally slows down. It's a sinusoidal movement, where the balance can shift from 80/20 in favor of investment to a mirror proportion in favor of optimization. 📊 In stable markets, the balance can remain 50/50 for years. Startups that are constantly attracting investment often live at a level of almost 100% expansion, postponing optimization until later — until they reach “unicorn” status. Conclusion: ❌ During growth, optimization can distract and slow down development. ✅ Its time comes when you need to consolidate your position, increase margins, and make processes transparent. Therefore, it is important to answer yourself honestly: are you currently in a growth or optimization phase? Awareness of this cyclicality will help you avoid conflicting decisions and maintain a balance between speed of development and cost efficiency.

19 Common Challenges Businesses Face When Trying To Scale Operations That was the title of a Forbes article that caught my eye. 𝗜𝗳 𝗶𝘁'𝘀: - Your first time working within a growing, early-stage business - Your first go as a startup founder or small business owner Then, these challenges may be less than obvious and come as a smack in the face when they creep up on you. Early detection is part of the battle, so scanning this article (link in comments) might be a first step to building awareness and avoiding common pitfalls. I've worked in-house, advised, consulted or been a fractional exec to enough growing organizations to say I've: - Encountered - Navigated - Been called on to address - Built solutions 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆.𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲.𝗼𝗻𝗲. Operations is the scaling function for your business. Without strong execution, a winning strategy will, well, not win. Don't ignore addressing these challenges proactively. And if you need expertise that can help accelerate velocity, not slow you down, in the process, get the (right) help. As the article says, "Pursuing growth and implementing new processes and systems can introduce new challenges that inadvertently turn potential business growth into a failed business venture." ------ 👋 I’m Jessica. I help emerging business owners and founders streamline operations, remove bottlenecks and build a foundation for long-term success. Follow for practical strategies to make growth feel easier. DM me to learn more.

I thought persistence was always a virtue in business. Until I learned this statistic. 70% of failed startups kept burning cash for over a year after founders knew their business model was broken. 🔥 That's not determination. That's denial. I've worked with founders who pivoted early when data showed their initial approach wasn't working. They saved resources, preserved team morale, and often found better opportunities. 📈 I've also seen CEOs double down on failing strategies because admitting the model was flawed felt like admitting personal failure. The difference? The successful ones treated their business model as a hypothesis to test, not their identity to defend. As someone who helps optimize tech products for profitability, I see this pattern repeatedly: ↳ Continuing to invest in features nobody wants? ↳ Ignoring user feedback that contradicts your vision? ↳ Explaining away declining metrics instead of addressing root causes? The market doesn't care about your original plan. It cares about value. Sometimes the bravest thing a founder can do is admit the current path isn't working and change course before resources run out. Your ego isn't worth a year of your team's lives.