Be a Startup Superstar

Chapter 6Adopt Winning Work Habits

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

—Will Durant, philosopher

Anyone can act like a leader. The true accomplishment is being a leader. That is what will get you to the C‐suite. To be a leader requires that you live every single day like you are a leader—be sure your lifestyle and your habits match your ambition. If they don't, you're just lying to yourself. In order to become a successful leader in the start‐up world, develop these six habits until they become second nature. They are: work hard, focus on end users, present solutions, pay attention to detail, simplify, and persist.

Work Hard without Feeling Overworked

In start‐ups, there's no easy button. The only way to the top is hard work. You've got to get your hands digitally dirty. Since larger competitors have more people, money, and resources, start‐ups compete by outworking them. The same rule applies to you. If another person is better educated or better connected than you—how can you compete? By outworking them. The truth is, the hustle will cost you. It's the price for the sustained success, and every accomplished start‐up leader I know has paid.

One of them, Simon Azzopardi, senior vice president of the international team at Thycotic, says that hard work has bolstered his success at every step of his start‐up journey. Early in his career, he read a story about John D. Rockefeller that captured his imagination. The tycoon was asked, ...