Clarity, Focus, and Resilience
In startups, sports, and life
This summer, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concepts of clarity, focus, and resilience.
I’ve seen it come up in the many worlds I’m a part of -
In Startups + Venture - With the general slowdown of the markets, it’s been interesting to see how founders and investors who were busy chasing trends last year have adapted back to the new normal. While many people got carried away with the frenziness of the markets, those that stayed in their lane, heads down and focused, operate with a distinct sense of calmness and ability to stay resilient during this current market. Hearing the story of the recent $20B Figma acquisition and resilience of the founder, Dylan Field, was an inspiring reminder - focused growth towards a clear vision over 10 years, despite many obstacles along the way, really does compound.
In Slope - As we’ve grown the agency, I’ve seen how intense focus has enabled us to compound our growth and learnings. Before the agency, I had started a business that raised venture funding, hoping to build a billion dollar company. Building a bootstrapped agency services business is different in many ways - cash flow is king, having tight ops is crucial from day one, and the business scales linearly instead of exponentially because our product is our people. I’ll write a whole post on agency learnings another day, but the fundamental principle that leads to compound growth is the same - focused growth on our core business before expanding into other services compounds. While opportunities arose to expand our services to large companies and even raise venture for the agency were tempting, we stayed focused and clear on our vision to build the best creative agency for startups.
In Sports - I’ve been voraciously watching the US Open tennis matches over the last two weeks. In particular, I loved watching both Carlos Alcaraz and Serena Williams play. The mental fortitude he had to endure while playing 5 hour long matches - you could see the calmness and focus he brought to every match, despite the frustrations of being behind. Taking it one point at a time, visualizing the results was key. (Highly recommend reading The Inner Game of Tennis, which focuses on the mental side of peak performance). Seeing the recap videos of Serena Williams’ incredible 27 year career were another amazing reminder of that clarity and focus it takes to be the best.
Clarity, Focus, and Resilience. These words often sound abstract, but I believe that if you want to be successful in achieving your goals, whether you’re a founder, athlete, or investor, you should strive to practice these concepts.