Firat Parlak is something of an authority on startups, having worked for over 85 startups throughout his working career, the American entrepreneur is also the founder of his own startup called Awesome, a userface and experience design company.
In a post published in Forbes magazine, 10 Lessons Learned From Working With 85-Plus Startups, Parlak shares the biggest takeaways from his startup experiences. Everything from the importance of great ideas and traction, to why execution, not an idea, is king.
However, the most unexpected lessons are what Parlak has to say on the importance of people skills, mental toughness and team work. Here are our favourites:
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAM WORK
“Harmony trumps talent and experience – Building a successful product requires a team working together as one unit to achieve the greater goal. Anything that interrupts this harmony is a poison that will spread if not stopped”.
ON EMPATHY
“Ego is damaging; lack of empathy is even worse – Having the ability to put yourself in others’ shoes not only results in a more harmonious team, but also lets your mind explore what your customers want and allows you to build it for them. If you’re too stubborn to listen, you’ll have a hard time building products people want”.
ON FACING FAILURE
“It’s more difficult than you think – If you’re going to make the entrepreneur leap, you need to have the mental toughness to face failure while also being ready to quickly pick yourself back up to try again”.
ON STICK-TO-IT-IVENESS
“You can’t win if you don’t play – Keep your mind open and you might find what you’re actually meant to do”.
