10 lessons from growing a brand to $20M in 2 years.
I was 24 when I started QALO as a college dropout with zero business experience. At 26, I was leading 50 people in an 8-figure company.
Here are 10 lessons I learned in those two years:
1. Trust is the #1 hiring requirement.
Trust in an employee enables a leader to delegate, empowers the hire, and serves as the mortar between the bricks.
It reduces the need for constant supervision, (which you don't have time for when you're starting), allowing managers to focus on strategic decisions and effectiveness rather than micromanagement.
Skills and experience don't matter if you don't have trust.
There's a debate on whether or not you should hire friends/family. I say yes, only if you know how the person works. No hopeful hiring. Do not hire the friend who you want to give a shot, but has not proven to you that they have the work ethic to deserve the shot.
Disappointment has ruined more friendships at work than disagreements.
If they meet the standard you have set, they can be an irreplaceable weapon in your culture. Friends, by nature of the relationship, trust each other, which can significantly streamline communication and collaboration within the team. They are often more invested in each other's success, leading to supportive work dynamics and driving collective growth.
The only 🚩 to wave is if you don't believe the relationship can survive the moments of conflict that will come with working together.
Then don't blow up Thanksgiving.
2. We must protect this house.
I didn’t know sh*t about business, but I knew who we were. To solve my business incompetence, I over-indexed on hiring for culture.
The most controllable function in your business is who you bring into it. You wouldn't let anyone whose character you're unsure of walk into your house and live among your family.
Treat your hiring the same way.
3. Don't focus on bigger.
We never talked about how big QALO would be.
We aimed to go deep from day one with a customer-centric innovation strategy. It was our job to identify the target customer, and their job to give us the roadmap for growth.
Even though our product was simple, our marketing approach was not. The better we understood the customer, how they engaged with our product, and what it meant to them, the bigger we would become.
As Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy said: “If we get better, customers will demand we get bigger.”
4. Don't Let the 🐘 Stay in the room.
Unresolved conflict dilutes effectiveness.
Have you ever tried to finish a piece of IKEA furniture with your spouse after a fight midway through? The awkwardness in asking for an Allen wrench when you're trying to avoid talking can 5x the time it takes to finish the bookcase.
Ignoring conflict has no upside. We had it out over every issue early on.
Was it messy? Yeah.
Did we handle the conflict well every time? Absolutely not.
However uncomfortable the 24 hours after the elephant was asked to leave may have been, it doesn't compare to the feeling of getting stomped on by that elephant a year later.
In large companies, the cancer of politics remains localized longer. You can keep your camera off on a Zoom call.
In a startup, the cancer metastasizes quickly.
Get the elephant out first.
5. Don't hire consumers and spectators.
On teams, there are consumers, spectators, and contributors.
Consumers: use the benefits but don't participate. They won't be wearing a costume on Halloween. You may hear things like, "Yeah, I don't do that fluffy BS. No, I can't turn my camera on. I'm about results."
Spectators: value the culture but don't build it. They are in the pack but not leading it. You may hear things like, "I love working here. The benefits are great, and I love the flexibility. I enjoy what I do."
Contributors: build it and raise the standard for everyone else. They innately have the qualities you need to succeed. You may hear things like, "Give me as much as I can handle. What can I do to make our team more effective? I know it's early, can I help build out what the company is going to need? I’ve noticed this isn’t getting done, can I do it?"
Your first 10 hires are cultural co-founders. Hold them to that standard.
6. Growth Follows courage.
Courage is the most important entrepreneurship trait.
Entrepreneurship is rescuing the customer from their problem and ensuring they never experience it again.
To run into a burning building, you either need to be the first to step, or you need to witness someone else do it first.
If your employees see you run into the building, they'll do the same, and growth will come next.
7. Etch-a-sketch Your industry
Take what everyone “knows” to be true…and shake it.
The industries ripest for disruption are the ones where "everyone does it that way." We disrupted a billion-dollar industry with one simple move: make a wedding ring out of silicone. Millions sold.
Conventional wisdom is just someone else’s limits. Don’t feel bound by it.
8. Ignore the rules
Humans are held hostage by "should."
Not knowing what the world thinks you should do is an advantage.
We had no clue what we should do; instead, we relentlessly solved the next problem in front of us in the way we thought was most effective.
The word "should" devolves inspired creativity into industry standards that people satisfied with mediocrity think you "should" follow.
Ignore it.
9. Be effective, not efficient.
It is going to be messy. When you’re playing hard you don’t worry about keeping your jersey clean.
The early years of scaling are you trying, failing, trying again, and figuring out the best way to do something.
If you optimize for efficiency, you won’t try enough things, and you’ll build a system you’re going to change again in 6 months.
Do what needs to get done to create momentum. Stop trying to be efficient.
9. Avoid the buzz lightyear effect
Your early employees are Woody from Toy Story. Trusted, loyal, steady, there when you were nothing.
Then we grow up, get a bit more money, hire the exciting new Buzz Lightyear, and knock Woody out of his spot on the bed.
Companies outgrow people. It will happen.
But if they were with you early, and they’re playing a critical role, reward tenured loyalty.
Never forget who bet on you with the worst odds.
I learned many of these the hard way, but I loved every second of it.
I hope these lessons help you out.
Chat soon,
KC
