Lessons from the real world: How to get the entrepreneurial edge

Sep 19, 2024 12:39:30 PM

"The fact is, the entrepreneurial mindset is not something you’re born with – it’s something you resonate with and cultivate through experience taking risks, resilience, and drive," writes Daniel Levy

Lessons from the real world: How to get the entrepreneurial edge

By Daniel Levy, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Flow

In the business world, nothing stays the same for long. This makes an entrepreneurial mindset not just helpful, but essential. So what does it take? How can eager entrepreneurs tackle the complexities of the modern market and come out stronger?

Having walked this path myself, I know the road to success is rocky and rarely straightforward. But I’ve found it's this unpredictability that best hones the skills and fuels ambition. Here are five learnings that have shaped my experience and continue to drive my leadership at Flow into new territories.

1. Blind luck might open a door, but it’s grit that turns luck into success

Luck, they say, favours the prepared mind. In my experience, luck is just the spark – grit is the fuel that keeps the fire burning. Back in 2007, when my business partners and I built and founded Popimedia (the first and only Facebook Marketing Partner in Africa, which was acquired in 2015 by global communications group Publicis), we were fortunate to identify a gap in the local advertising market at the right time. But it wasn't just luck that made us Africa’s largest AdTech and performance marketing company. It was our insistent pushing of boundaries, even when the odds were stacked against us. More than once, we had to fly abroad unannounced to meet the social media giant, demonstrate what we had built, and convince them we could meet their needs in order to earn their support.

Truth is, South Africa simply doesn’t have the venture capital and angel investor scene you’d find in Silicon Valley, for example. So most homegrown entrepreneurs can’t just ride on a good idea and hope to sell it – they have to create a viable, well-performing business model. That often means identifying a big problem that needs solving,long hours, hard work, and funding it all yourself. True entrepreneurship is about the long game, and hoping for a lucky break that leads to sustained success.

2. Don’t believe your own bull: Stay critical, stay innovative

One of the most dangerous traps for an entrepreneur is falling into the echo chamber of their own success. I’ve seen many promising ventures falter because the leaders started to believe their own hype, losing sight of the critical need for constant questioning and innovation. I’ve surrounded myself with equally inspirational and hard-working partners who aren’t afraid to call out my blind spots. This culture of rigorous self-examination keeps us agile and honest, and lets us pivot quickly when necessary. The moment you start believing you’ve figured it all out is the moment your business starts to stagnate. The market is ever-evolving, so comb over your business – refine every process, scrutinise every success.

3. Stick to the knitting: Find your advantage and scale It

One of the most valuable lessons I learned is to focus on what you do best – what I call sticking to the knitting. Flow had originally launched as a behavioural rewards app in the property sector but when the pandemic hit, we realised we had to pivot – and fast! Our past success with Popimedia prompted our return to AdTech – but this time, applied to the real estate sector. From there, we refined our technology to create an intelligent platform that’s transcended real estate and is making waves around the world, in industries like retail, automotive, and insurance.

I now see Flow as the intersection of large digital media budgets, data and AdTech, but we only got here because we doubled down on what we knew was our strength – a deep expertise in harnessing data, and a deep understanding of the media buying world, to drive meaningful connections. So I believe that finding your niche and scaling it is key to building a sustainable business. In a world full of distractions, staying focused on your core strengths is what will set you apart from the competition.

4. Persistence beats resistance: Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted. It’s marked by constant challenges and resistance, both internal and external. But in the face of setbacks, you have to learn to back yourself and your vision, even when it means stepping into uncomfortable territory. When we started Popimedia, most ad agencies didn’t even know or care what Facebook was. After all, what could I – with a background in commercial law, and Popimedia’s other two co-founders, both engineers by training – bring to the table? But we viewed problems as a blank canvas, believed in our mission and pushed through the resistance. The ability to persevere through discomfort is what separates those who succeed from those who merely dream.

5. Make scary decisions: The line between failure and great success

The final lesson is perhaps the most challenging: making scary decisions. These are the decisions that can either get you fired or lead to unprecedented success. These are moments when you have to trust your gut and hope your parachute opens on the way down. I’ve had my share throughout my career – from choosing to enter new markets and invest in cutting-edge technology to pivoting our business model. Such decisions are fraught with risk, but as an entrepreneur, you must face making them, because they are the decisions with the potential to catapult your business from good to great.

The fact is, the entrepreneurial mindset is not something you’re born with – it’s something you resonate with and cultivate through experience taking risks, resilience, and drive. At Flow, we live by these principles, by pushing ourselves to innovate, disrupt, and ultimately, to connect people and businesses in ways that matter. I keep learning how success is a series of calculated risks, persistent efforts, and the courage to make choices others might shy away from. That, to me, is the thrill of entrepreneurship.

Daniel Levy is the Co-CEO & Co-Founder of Flow, a data powered AdTech company that boosts businesses, at scale, across numerous industries and regions.

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