Three practical tips founders can implement today
From serial entrepreneur, Phil Hayes-St Clair
Phil Hayes-St Clair dropped into our Zoom room for our weekly Monday morning Accelerator team check-in for a pep-talk. He gave the founders three practical tips for their journey ahead from his many lessons learned.
Phil is CEO & Co-Founder at Drop Bio, a personalised health biotechnology venture based on the predictive potential of blood. Previously, he built Air Share, a world-first audio recognition and interaction technology for radio. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor (Entrepreneurship) at University of New South Wales.
The three things:
Build a network.
You will keep everything you are thinking about to yourself, because you think no one else will get it. If you keep it in your mind, that’s your problem. You have to find a way to express and communicate what you’re building and creating.
Build a small network of people around you (3–4) and get it out of your head. Their job is to keep you honest, and you will do the same for them. This space is where nourishing learning thrives. And, if this idea isn’t the thing (‘the one’), the toolbelt you will build in this process will help you create the thing.
Pay yourself first.
You won’t take care of yourself. You will get up early, you will skip lunch, you will drink too much coffee, you will work late. You will blow yourself to pieces if you do not reorganise your life now.
You will focus on trying to serve others first — if you do not pay yourself first, you are useless to any other being. In your day, you have to find 90minutes which is just for you (exercise, meditation, reading, writing, walking). This time will give your brain time to assimilate. Doing this will preserve your life-force, and it will make you a better person for it. Do it now!
Talk to a child.
You are about to lose perspective (if you haven’t already). As often as you can, pitch what you’re building to a child and let them look at you with complete confusion. The best place to recalibrate is a child's mind because they ask questions, and they don’t have a filter. The next time you see another child, explain to them what you’re trying to do. Repeat, repeat.
If you can’t communicate what you’re building clearly and simply, you will lose listening ears.
Your homework: you’re going to create your network, spend 90minutes a day doing something for you, and pitch to children.
