Oren Yogev, Co-founder and CEO of Blink
While a principled founding team can create a great company and guide the vision, an enduring company requires a disciplined leadership system that is implemented very early in its history. The system should enable the delegation and distribution of decision making throughout the organization. It is rooted in people practices that help a company recruit, develop, and retain leadership talent at all levels – and make decisions that align with the company’s visions and values.
At Blink, bedsides Gilad Drozdov and I as founders - we brought in two leaders from day one who have made a huge impact. Tsahi Mizrahi and Artyom Borzin are the company's backbone, and they make a lot of the day-to-day decisions and keep things running smoothly.
Karthik Kannan, Founder & CEO of Anvilogic
First and foremost, hiring the right people and creating a good culture. A team that brings skills and a great attitude to work every day is key to a successful company. It requires continuous effort to foster good culture - daily behavior, respect, diversity, work satisfaction, balance, communication, etc. It's hard to write culture down, but it is essential to practice it every day, and others will replicate it by observation.
Next is the product itself - the magnitude and importance of the problem, clarity of the needs and size of the target market, the competitive differentiation, and the sellability - messaging, sales process, pricing, and adoption. When the right problem is solved well, the customer reaction can be highly satisfying and uplifting.
Dave Blake, Founder and CEO of ClientSuccess
First and foremost, you have to surround yourself with the right people. You need a committed team who are excited about the journey and willing to be ALL IN in creating something special. The team should be united in their passion for taking care of customers and solving their problems. You want investors who can be patient and engage as thought partners, while challenging you to build sustainable high-growth businesses. You want a community around you with fellow entrepreneurs and founders who dream big and genuinely want to create businesses that are game-changing for generations. I feel fortunate to have that at ClientSuccess, with Cervin Ventures, and here in Utah (aka “Silicon Slopes").
Rajeev Shah, Co-founder & CEO of Celona
Every aspect of building, growing, and motivating a great team! I believe that at its core, a startup is really all about the people. It isn't easy to convince superstars to join your team, motivate them, and help them transform into different roles as startups evolve. The higher the quality of this effort, the more successful a startup is.
