Adaptability as a startup founder

We like working with immigrant founders at ONEVC.

Being an outsider to any environment can be a powerful propeller to build.

I prefer to invest with those with a chip on their shoulder — those that self-micro-dose adrenaline, with enough anxiety to make it work.

Immigrants often have more courage since they had to adapt and learn faster. The best people I know navigate well in a multitude of environments from the doorman to the chairman.

One must adapt its acquisition channels, sales strategies, relationships, diet. Success is about the rapid iteration of all aspects of your life.

Great founders process information fast. They have an awareness of sticking with what works. They try several strategies.

Fasting, Keto, and HIIT weren't popular until a few years ago. By adapting, people realized that it is better to eat/live that way.

The same principle applies to growth hacking. One channel that works today will not work tomorrow. The moment you think there is absolute truth in something is the moment it dies.

Lack of adaptability is the best seed for ignorance.

You as a founder have to exhaust what works; adapt and evolve as you grow into another track that gets the job done. Valid for sales, recruiting, fundraising.

Adapt. Don't give up.

Don't allow yourself to be slaved by tradition. Often, once a creator dies and you rely upon the tales told by others, you add stiffness. You lose the ability to be formless. You get blinded by tradition.

Learn how to differentiate and adapt.

Empty yourself.