Alex Snider, MBA

1. Expect to fall down nine times and stand up ten; most first ventures are reps, not failures.
2. Define what success means to you before you try to measure it.
3. You need resources more than funds, and money is only one kind of resource.
4. The leap from manager to leader means doing less yourself and enabling others, and it will feel uncomfortable.
5. Spend your time in your zone of genius and delegate (not abdicate) the rest, with clear expectations.

“Good paperwork makes good partnerships.” — Alex Snider

“Delegation is not abdication.” — Alex Snider

1. Fundraising is an option, not a requirement, and it is a full-time job when you do it.
2. Raise enough to hit the milestones that meaningfully change your valuation, without over-diluting.
3. Every pitch must answer three whys: why this idea, why now, why you.
4. A market is only truly validated when you have converted a paying customer.
5. Growth means retention: treat customers at least as well after they buy as when you were selling to them.

“Traction is not the same thing as data.” — Alex Snider

“You could spend five years building a rocket ship and if nobody wants to pay to go to space, then you built a great rocket ship, but you didn't build a business.” — Alex Snider

1. Your business can only grow as much as you do as a leader.
2. Pair the visionary with an operator, because the two capabilities rarely live in one person.
3. Hire fewer, better people and tell them exactly how to win with you.
4. Drop the ego, keep the audacity: admit mistakes, but keep believing it's possible.
5. Pick one leadership trait and one self-awareness practice to work on for the next 90 days.

“A table full of yeses does not help you to do things differently, to do incredible things.” — Alex Snider

“I truly, truly, truly believe that leaders are built and not born.” — Alex Snider