Ever since I could remember I’ve been a big believer in lifelong learning and as a founder of Proversity, a mobile recruitment and professional development learning platform, I follow a simple mantra set by Henry Ford: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.†Rather fittingly I found myself with 6,000+ summiteers at the 2016 Forbes Under 30 Summit in Boston in October and came away with three lessons for any entrepreneur.
1. “If you’re not willing to take a risk, you’re not an entrepreneur†– Richard Branson
I could wax lyrical all day about my fellow Brit Richard Branson, but in a fantastic interview with FORBES editor Randall Lane he shared views from the presidential campaign to his greatest failure. However, what really struck home for me was his views on risk as he even went as far to say “If you’re not willing to take a risk, you’re NOT an entrepreneur!†He’s perfectly right – you are constantly going to try and fail. I find myself on startup number five and taking a leap is very much part of the learning process. As Branson put it best, life would be a lot more boring if we did not take these risks.
2.“You’re Amazing, You’re Brilliant, You’re Beautiful, You’re Loved!†– Captain Encouragement
When hustling away on your grand idea, it’s easy to lose confidence in face of all the no’s and challenges. Luckily last week a caped crusader swooped in to Boston to save the day. Normally Captain Encouragement travels to schools across the country to teach children about non-violence and anti-bullying. However, in the Under 30 Village he opted to share the love with a simple reminder: “You’re Amazing, You’re Brilliant, You’re Beautiful, You’re Loved!†In a world where it’s never been easier to be connected, we could not be more isolated. No matter your race, gender or creed, you are all these beautiful things, so chin up – keep calm and create value.
3. “Wellness is how you evaluate and experience your life.†– Deepak Chopra
One of the most beautiful things about an Under 30 summit is the energy. It’s infectious. So picture this: you’ve been up all night partying at a pub crawl around the home of the mighty Red Sox, over 1,000 of your summiteers pick themselves up for a 6 am run with the swimming legend that is Michael Phelps and to top the morning off you find yourself meditating to the gracious Deepak Chopra, all before 9 a.m. What blew me away was the precision and purpose he had behind each word, in one particular discourse he framed that “Wellness is how you evaluate and experience your life.†You’ll often get trapped thinking that the meteoritic rise of unicorns like Uber and Airbnb happen overnight, but the truth is that their growth is far more a marathon. Having interviewed members of both founding teams, I found that before anyone had heard of them it took them several years to reach product market fit. So you don’t have to go all Usain Bolt – you have time to experience your life, build the life that will allow you to create an impact and have a lot of fun doing it.
By Krishan Meetoo
The writer is the cofounder of proversity
