How having a ‘founder mindset’ can help you succeed

There are many challenges to being a founder—most especially in the early stages of creating a business. When starting out as a founder, you are the business. You are the idea, the hard work, the salesperson, the creativity. Because of this, it feels amazing when you succeed—but it’s just as easy to take it personally when you don’t.

Traits like being able to handle rejection, having perseverance and betting on yourself require a unique and - to many of us who have been taught to value modesty or carefulness - an unnatural way of thinking. But it’s a crucial mindset to have to succeed in the startup space.

Here, we’ve explored some of these character traits in more detail which we believe make up that endlessly sought-after ‘founder mindset’.

Handling rejections

Hopefully, as a founder, you already believe in what you do. If that’s the case, you’re in the right mindset—you just need to keep flexing it, like a muscle. When you understand exactly why your business is vital - and who it’s vital for - you grow a much thicker skin when pitching to the outside world. In this way, when you experience rejection (and as any seasoned founder will tell you, you’ll experience plenty in your journey, no matter how successful you are!) it won’t derail your journey or make you doubt your vision.

Coming to terms with rejection as a part of (startup) life - something to learn from but not dwell on - will give you the right mindset to persevere with your journey. Because sometimes, just carrying on is the hardest but most necessary thing you’ll have to do.

Betting on yourself

Creating a business from scratch requires more than a little risk—and risk is something you must learn to live with and use if you want to be a successful founder. When leading a startup, there are of course times to be careful. You need to be able to stay afloat in harder moments and have a plan for the future, for instance. But there are also times when you need to have the mindset to bet on yourself, in spite of the risks.

In its simplest form, betting on yourself is just another way of having faith—faith in what you’ve created, but also faith in your ability to see it through.

Being your most reliable ally

Sometimes, it might feel like being a founder is all about being strong, robust and thick-skinned, but you also need to be gentle and compassionate with yourself and your team.

Being an ‘ally’ to yourself isn’t only about openly supporting what you’re doing, it’s about supporting yourself on an emotional level, too. Having your business’s best interests at heart can sometimes look like asking for help, taking a break or slowing down. Founders are only human, after all, and no one can keep up a founder mindset without rest, kindness and support.

At Remotify, we’re on a mission to help companies and their founders succeed through the freedom and flexibility of remote work. We help both companies and individuals grow with remote teams, using our Employer of Record Plus service. Want to find out more about how we do it? Book a call with a member of our friendly team today.