At the end of 2013 I joined the Startup Leadership Program (SLP) in Chicago as the CEO and founder of ReviewTrackers, a B2B software company that helps businesses monitor online reviews and manage online reputation. During the course of the 6-month program I met other entrepreneurs and startup founders, attended multiple hands-on workshops, polished our investor materials and pitches, learned from a group of super-smart mentors, listened to speakers with extremely inspiring personal stories, and gained more knowledge than I could dream of on what it takes to be a successful SEO.
In short, my stint as an SLP fellow made me a better entrepreneur. Here are some of the things I learned:
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I am not alone. This might sound like some weird self-reassuring existential warble, but sometimes in order to persist in the face of the most challenging times you need to know that you’re not alone, and that someone else has been in a similar situation. The personal, unplugged, fireside-chat stories of leading entrepreneurs and innovators distinguish SLP from other programs, and they certainly made for an extremely valuable learning experience.
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It made me value my startup’s diversity even more. SLP provided plenty of networking opportunities and meaningful collisions with smart people (a must for every entrepreneur), but beyond that it also enabled me to gain a greater appreciation of the diverse group of people we have at ReviewTrackers. Diversity, I have always believed, is a business asset. I have been able to create my own luck meeting and working with people from different parts of the country and the world. In SLP, I also got to become friends for life with people who share my passion for growing a business and solving real-world problems.
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Excel in service and the numbers will come. The SLP curriculum includes sessions on generating leads, findings customers, and crafting sales strategies. More importantly, it emphasizes the importance of delivering excellent service, and of taking feedback in order to improve the customer experience. This is something that we have since committed to implementing at ReviewTrackers, where we have even created a Customer Happiness Team, and so far it has worked wonders in sustaining and improving our customer retention rates.
It helped outline the work needed to take it to the next level. Some talented entrepreneurs think they can get away with not sweating the hard stuff. But, as I learned in SLP’s detail-oriented classes and workshops, you have to polish (over and over) your presentations, do tons of testing and research, innovate constantly (or die), and pay attention to things that you might otherwise be tempted to ignore.
I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that ReviewTrackers successfully raised $2 million after participating in SLP Chicago: the skills I learned in the program — leading the team, managing investors, handling negotiations — have been critical to our company’s success.
Applications are now open for the Startup Leadership Program in Chicago. Deadline for applications is on August 1.
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