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These Four Lessons Made Them Unicorn Founders
Alex Christidis & Iniobong Uyah
July 11, 2024
In partnership with
Crumbl, Solidcore, Kopi Kenangan, and Caviar are all successful businesses started by ordinary people. What set these companies apart wasn’t the exceptional skill of the founders or their unique business ideas, but their “mindset”. Here are the four lessons they shared.
Lesson #1 - Anyone Can do it
This is both an advice and a warning to aspiring entrepreneurs. If you’re too afraid to jump on that idea, someone else will. It’s only a matter of time. This should motivate anyone who has been sitting on that business idea and is too scared to dive in. The more you delay, the more the opportunity will slip away. Do it and do it afraid if you have to.
Because until you try, you’ll never know if you will succeed. McGowan and his co-founder had no professional baking experience when they started their company, Crumbl, but that didn’t stop them. What they had was passion, determination, and a unique perspective, that’s all it took. Speaking of a unique perspective, here’s the second lesson from the founder of Solidcore.
Lesson #2 - Lean Into What Makes You Unique
I try to find the uniqueness in things, and then I amplify them, it really has been a huge part of my success. A lot of times, people try to hide in the herd, and we try to fit in, and I think that's the worst advice
As an aspiring entrepreneur, finding what is unique about you or your business is key to your success. In business terms, this is known as Unique Selling Point (USP). Your unique selling point can be anything from how your business is structured to how your product is designed or packaged. Whatever it is that makes you distinguishable from the competition is your USP. Don’t be afraid to stand out and don’t try to be like everyone else.
I really believe in the power of uniqueness. When we... lean into our uniqueness, it really works in our favor, and it really has been a huge part of my success to do that personally and professionally. I think so many times, we look at entrepreneurs or people who made it and we think that they just have something that you don’t, or that they have a special set of advantages, and to be honest, that might be true — the world and life is not fair, it never was, and it never will be
Edward Tirtanata, co-founder and CEO of unicorn coffee chain Kopi Kenangan shares a similar opinion with Mahlum. According to him;
The next Starbucks is not going to look like a Starbucks, the next McDonald’s is not gonna look like a McDonald’s. The next Google is not going to look like a Google – you need to be radically different in order for you to compete against the incumbent
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Lesson #3 - Be Passionate
If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re really passionate about the product that you’re building — not because you just want the glory of being a CEO or a founder [but] you’re really passionate about what you’re working on — that will get you through the hardest days
Passion has been echoed by several entrepreneurs as one of many factors behind a successful business. Shawn Tsao, Anne Mahlum, Edward Tirtanata, and McGowan both showed incredible passion for their work which is why they were able to build something sustainable. Their passion drove them to persist even when faced with the toughest challenge. However, they wouldn't have gotten to this point if they had not started.
Lesson #4 - Just Get Started
McGowan didn’t know how to bake cookies when he decided to bake the best chocolate cookie in the world.
Shawn Tsao wished he could order his favorite sandwich and instead of whining because there was no way he could have his food delivered, he decided to start a business that served that need.
Anne Mahlum had no prior business idea when she jumped on the idea of running Solidcore and;
Tirtanata’s love of coffee drove him to start a local coffee chain that soon became a unicorn raking in up to 100 million dollars a year.
So there you have it. Like Nike said, Just do it. After all, that’s the only way you get a chance to succeed.
Read the article by CNBC here;
That’s all for now folks.
Until next time, stay inspired and keep chasing your dreams!
Cheers,
Alex