what hard/soft skills do you believe are the most critical in success of a founder and the business he/she is running?
what would you recommend your younger self to learn and get mastery as quickly as possible?
what skills do you suggest entrepreneurs possess for a strong business mentality?
byu/Odd_Awareness_6935 inEntrepreneur
Posted by Odd_Awareness_6935
7 Comments
You gotta be the best seller, you gotta truly believe in your business/product.
At the same time, discipline and resilience to stay focused even though the tough times
Clear thinking and distribution matter most. If people can’t find you when they ask AI for answers, the decision is already made without you
I’d say there are quite a few traits.. but the key one is defaulting and experiencing many **fast learning loops** (ship → measure → adjust).
You can do that by trying almost any online business (even simple ones like selling something on ebay).
You want to build:
* Ownership bias – everything is your fault, therefore fixable
* Comfort with ambiguity – act before clarity
* Long-term stamina – consistency beats intensity
You definitely also need sales, writing, product sense (comes from using products and learning how others did it – read!), finance, etc.
I always recommend YCombinator’s YouTube videos to young founders.
Consistency. It may be simple but as you grow remaining consistent is becomes harder but it’s one of those skills that if you master it will always yield positive results for your business, product or brand.
In term of skills: Being a top seller is very important. In any moments you are selling something (vision, product, contract, hiring, fundraise, and so on…)
The shade I would add is that you always need to be genuine and honest. Being a carpet seller will lead nowhere.
Take care of your reputation, and create a strong network.
I think the best advice I’d give my younger self would be to execute faster on the things that really move the needle.
Talk to more people faster, market yourself/ product sooner, you learn more by actually doing, and it always takes longer than you expect so it’s best to not waste time. Get comfortable with rejection and be resilient through the good, bad, and ugly.
There’s no shortcuts, no cheat codes, just consistency and hard work.
Most important skill is selling. If you can’t explain what you’re doing in a simple way that makes people care, you’re kinda stuck.
Second is being okay with being wrong. You’ll mess up a lot. If your ego gets involved you just burn time.
Basic money awareness too. Not spreadsheets all day, just knowing am I making money or bleeding it and for how long.
If I could tell younger me something, it’d be learn copywriting and distribution early. I thought good ideas sell themselves. They don’t. No one is paying attention.
Also emotional control. Some days you feel unstoppable, some days you feel like an idiot. Both pass. You still have to work.
Most of this you only learn by doing anyway. Reading helps a bit, but pressure teaches faster.