• Alex Osterwalder, startup founder and author, and one of the architects of the Lean Startup approach, has led four companies that made him an expert on innovation and strategy, earning the trust of the world's biggest companies.
• Startup founders sometimes seem to have an exclusive focus on raising big money and growing their teams up to a massive scale. But scale itself isn't — and shouldn't — be the ultimate aim of a startup, according to Osterwalder.
• Business Insider spoke with him about key insights on the scaling he has developed in the course of building his own businesses and helping others grow as well.

• This article is part of a series on growing a small business, called "From 1 to 100."

There is no "one size fits all" in business, especially when it comes to company size. The ideal scale of a business is highly dependent on far more than a founder's ability to raise financing.

Ask innovation expert, author, and startup founder Alex Osterwalder, and he'll say that more money and people are a means to an end. The real questions are twofold: What is the real value that you're offering to the market, and do you have a business model to support that value proposition?

Walk into any startup incubator or corporate innovation group and you will likely see a copy of Osterwalder's business model canvas floating about. As one of the key architects of the revolutionary Lean Startup methodology, he knows a lot about finding, testing, and growing business ideas.

Osterwalder is a four-time entrepreneur and a widely cited innovation expert. His current company, Strategyzer, is based in Zürich, Switzerland and has been guiding the innovation solutions of some of the world's biggest firms, like Microsoft, 3M, and GE.

"Rather than throwing bodies at a problem, like any consulting firm would do, like McKinsey or Bain, we actually throw very few bodies at the problem and use technology to be able to scale it," Osterwalder said in an interview with Business Insider.

Although a tech-enabled approach to management consulting does allow Strategyzer to accomplish a lot more with fewer people, Osterwalder is now facing the challenge of scaling beyond a core team.

The Swiss startup has a Zürich-based staff of 35, along with roughly 30 distributed workers who design and lead digital workshops for businesses large and small.

But in spite of his expertise in building and testing business models, Osterwalder says there's only one way to learn the ropes of building the business in the real world. There's just no replacement for experience.

"I like to say you need three things to create a successful company when you start from scratch: a great value proposition, a great business model, and great implementation skills," he said.

For him, implementation and scaling go hand in hand, since that is where all the ideas and imagination get put to the test in the real world. In short, scaling is the ultimate test of whether your business idea can truly work in the real world.

"Smart people who can figure it out will make mistakes that smart people who've made those mistakes before won't make again," Osterwalder said.

Being clever will only get you so far, and he says that means finding people who have been through a scale-up before is essential if you want the process to go smoothly.

Osterwalder readily admits that the process has not been a smooth one for Strategyzer, with some expensive mistakes along the way.

"The good news is we have a pretty sustainable business model that can swallow all those mistakes. Most companies, they run out of money when they make the mistakes we made, but we actually started with a business model that was pretty good," he said.

But one mistake he won't let his team make is losing sight of Strategyzer's core mission.

"If we wanted to scale faster, we probably would have just become a consulting firm," he said. "But I'm not interested in scale, per se. What I'm interested in is us actually realizing a vision."

In order to achieve that vision, Osterwalder says Strategyzer will have to double the size of its current team over the next five to 10 years.

"I'm not in it just to stay small," he said. "I think I can build a company that serves at least 20 to 30% of the Fortune 2000."

Maximizing Strategyzer's reach would require a steady-state headcount around 10 times its current size, and while Osterwalder could push his team to get there in a short time, that would require taking on outside investors — something which he is not interested in doing.

For now, he says he is happy to balance the tension between having the patience to build Strategyzer in alignment with his vision, while still keeping it on track to reach the scale necessary to achieve the impact he believes it's capable of.

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• Innovation consulting is a relatively novel field, which focuses on training teams to design new business models and profit centers for companies.
• Zurich-based Strategyzer does exactly that for some of the world's biggest firms, like Microsoft, 3M, and GE.
• Cofounder Alex Osterwalder told Business Insider how he and Alan Smith built the company from its fairly humble roots as an iPad app to become a staple of corporate boardrooms and innovation clusters around the world.
• This article is part of a series on growing a small business, called "From 1 to 100."

Management consulting is a $285 billion industry, in part because it often involves a lot of individualized services.

Less well-established is the field of innovation consulting, which is the practice of training teams to design new business models and profit centers for companies.

"It is, I believe, a profession that you need to learn in addition to the management profession that we've now mastered," said innovation expert, author, and startup founder Alex Osterwalder in an interview with Business Insider. "We don't yet have the equivalent of the MBA for the innovation profession."

His current company, Strategyzer, is positioning itself to be just that, and the Zurich-based business now guides the innovation solutions of some of the world's biggest firms, like Microsoft, 3M, and GE.

Feasible business model comes first, then breakthrough

But for a company that's fast becoming a staple of corporate boardrooms and innovation clusters, Strategyzer began in 2011 with fairly humble roots.

"We started with something very simple, which was an iPad app to bring our tools just to the digital world," Osterwalder said. "Our idea was always to use the iPad app as an experiment, because it's very hard to build a business on an iPad app."

With the revenues from those initial app sales, Osterwalder and cofounder Alan Smith were able to build out web apps and ramp up other products and services.

The market that Strategyzer is after is still in its formative phase, but Osterwalder likens his business to that of Netflix, which used the existing demand for DVD rentals to build a streaming video empire.

"They built a feasible business model before getting to a breakthrough business model, so we're doing the same thing," Osterwalder said. "We always wanted to say we don't want to be another consulting firm or another training firm, just like everybody else. The world has enough of those."

Unlike the conventional approach to consulting, Strategyzer's tech-enabled approach will allow it to scale in a way that simply cannot happen with more high-touch professional services.

The company does perform its own brand of on-site trainings and workshops, but the emphasis is more on facilitating virtual trainings for clients who want to reach more of their organization more efficiently.

"We're now clearly seeing the market is maturing," Osterwalder said. "Now we work with big clients like Bayer where we actually do coaching and consulting for them, but technology-enabled."

The grand vision for Strategyzer is still about five to 10 years out, Osterwalder said, but there are clear precedents that give his vision shape.

"Basically we're trying to build the SAP for strategy, meaning that business leaders and teams will design strategy and innovation," he said. "Like computer-aided design for architects, they will do the same for strategy innovation."

In the meantime, he said, "We actually need to continue to explore this and keep the company alive with more immediate revenues that could help us scale."

Less Wild West, more 'boring accounting'

And as one of the key architects of the revolutionary Lean Startup methodology, Osterwalder knows a lot about finding, testing, and growing business ideas.

"We always try to work on very broad topics. So the beginning was business models, and now it's, 'How do you actually build new growth engines by not taking crazy risks?'" he said. "Everybody thinks innovation is risky. It's actually only risky when you do it the wrong way, when you make big bold bets."

Strategyzer's key value proposition ultimately boils down to reducing the risk associated with finding your company's next big idea. Osterwalder said his methods bring a more evidence-based rigor to an area of business that has traditionally been handled with superstition and mystery.

"The early Wild West days are behind us," he said. "I can score a project based on the evidence and see if they're ready for more investment or not."

"That is where it goes from Wild West to boring innovation accounting," he added.

As Strategyzer looks to build the future of "boring innovation accounting," it continues to depend on the typical revenue generators like conferences, webinars, book sales, and licensing deals.

But Osterwalder is not planning to stick with that approach for long.

"We knew that in this phase we need to scale with a different model in order to build what we want to build in the long term, but not fall back to the traditional services, because then you get stuck," he said. "Right now we're just another consulting firm."

SEE ALSO: Here's how a key architect of the Lean Startup model is using his own philosophy and experience to scale his own company that trains innovators for the worlds biggest firms like Microsoft, 3M, and GE

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NOW WATCH: Taylor Swift is the world's highest-paid celebrity. Here's how she makes and spends her $360 million.

• Scaling a startup is full of challenges, but it has its fair share of rewards as well.
• François Briod, who cofounded Swiss fintech startup Monito, says that finding talent is part of the challenge, but when it works, "it's kind of magical what you can achieve."
• Business Insider spoke with Briod about his experience growing a team from its original three cofounders to nearly 20 members, with a goal to double in size this year.
• This article is part of a series on growing a small business, called "From 1 to 100."

International money transfers represent a $1 trillion industry that typically costs users $28 billion in fees per year.

In response, one Swiss fintech startup is hoping to grow quickly to bring transparency to the marketplace — and bring savings to customers who send funds overseas.

The vision for Monito is to become a widely known and used comparison website for sending funds across borders, sort of like a Kayak.com or Booking.com for remittances.

"To do that, we would need to really hit a massive scale and hundreds of team members," cofounder and CEO François Briod said in an interview with Business Insider. "We really want to be this global hub and have an impact on the lives of millions."

Seeing a multibillion-dollar opportunity

To achieve that reach and process hundreds of billions of transactions, Briod said his team will need to exponentially scale up from its current baker's dozen employees and handful of partners.

Even with the lean crew, Briod said Monito facilitated $200 million in transfers last year, saving its customers roughly $10 million in fees, and is on track to double or triple those numbers this year.

That still leaves a long way to go before putting a significant dent in the billions that consumers pay each year to companies like PayPal, Western Union, and MoneyGram, but Briod is optimistic that finding talented and motivated members who are committed to Monito's mission will enable the team to reach that goal.

"Part of the most rewarding element of the journey is adding new team members," Briod said. "There is a limit to what you can achieve with three founders."

Starting with 'three guys in a garage'

When François Briod and his brother Pascal were just children — 8 and 10 years old, respectively — they launched a nonprofit to provide meals for a children's center in Cameroon.

Through that experience, they saw first hand the expense and hassle that accompanied sending money overseas, and it sparked a lifelong interest in the complex and opaque international money-transfer industry.

Years later, in 2013, the brothers teamed up with a friend, Laurent Oberholzer, for a Startup Weekend event to pitch their idea for a revolutionary way to send money overseas.

Soon the trio were on their way to transforming a student project into an international hub that they hoped would allow millions of people around the world to preserve more of their hard-earned money.

Breaking the Bezos 'two pizza rule'

According to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' "two pizza rule," meetings and teams perform best when they can be fed with just a pair of pies, and for several years Monito was a two-pizza company.

"When you can still sit around a table, everyone is aware of what everything is doing, it's super easy to collaborate," he said. But as more people join, "you need to find clever ways to keep engaged with the whole team."

To guide Monito's growth, which now boasts nearly 20 members, Briod offered a useful strategy: "You need to hire people that are better than you at doing stuff that is very important for the company."

"One of the challenging aspects of being the founder is that you need to fire yourself every three to six months to find someone better than you at doing the things that you're doing now," he added.

Briod said he has a target of doubling his team size this year, with priorities on roles like engineers and marketing.

"We've really dedicated more and more time to hiring in the past year because we understood that is a key part of today's success and tomorrow's as well," he said.

SEE ALSO: Here's how a key architect of the Lean Startup model is using his own philosophy and experience to scale his own company that trains innovators for the world's biggest firms like Microsoft, 3M, and GE

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• Founders often rely on intuition to guide the growth of their company, but many startups rely on a strategy of careful testing to refine their business model.
• For Monito, a Swiss fintech, the scientific method extends beyond simply developing their platform or marketing approach to include almost every dimension of the business.
• Cofounder and CEO François Briod told Business Insider how his team's analytical philosophy permeates everything the company does, from the service it provides to the team that provides it.
• This article is part of a series on growing a small business, called "From 1 to 100."

While it's fairly common for founders to trust intuition to guide the growth of their company, many startups rely on a strategy of careful testing to refine their business model.

For the cofounders of Monito, a Swiss fintech, the scientific method extends beyond simply developing their platform or marketing approach to include almost every dimension of the business — even its name.

Cofounder and CEO François Briod told Business Insider how his team's analytical philosophy permeates everything the company does, from the service it provides to the team that provides it.

"Testing is everything," Briod said. "It's often better to write a good hypothesis and a good test to see if your intuition is right or not. And then based on that, really trust the data to make decisions and then move from there."

Starting with the numbers

Monito began as a student project with Briod, his brother Pascal, and their friend Laurent Oberholzer back in 2013, and has since grown into a team of 13 that is expected to double in size this year.

The challenge they are tackling is the international money-transfer marketplace, which represents a $1 trillion industry that typically costs users $28 billion in fees per year.

Their goal is to become a widely known and used comparison website for sending funds across borders, sort of like a Kayak.com or Booking.com for remittances, with a mission to bring big savings to customers who send funds overseas.

"In a startup world, you raise funds, you get more resources, and then you need to show results very quickly," Briod said, adding that rigorous tests help his team do just that.

What's in a name?

Plenty of companies track key performance indicators in a variety of contexts from product development to marketing, but Monito's name itself is actually the result of a series of tests.

At its start, Monito was known as TawiPay, which was the result of a rapid-fire session entering fintech buzzwords into Google Translate. (Tawi is Swahili for branch, and the cofounders were envisioning a future with branchless banking.)

In a blog post, Pascal explained how they ultimately chose to call their startup Monito through a process that included testing several potential names with hundreds of users.

"I wouldn't recommend to any entrepreneur to change the name of your startup, unless you really have a compelling reason to do so," Pascal wrote. "Don't do it because you want a better name, but because you have a bad one."

The test results for Monito over TawiPay were decisive, and in 2016 the company officially announced its rebranding.

Using data to help customers make more informed choices

François says Monito facilitated over $200 million in transfers last year, saving its customers roughly $10 million in fees by providing detailed information about the costs associated with different modes of sending money overseas.

The platform even goes further, he said, by offering an algorithmic score for different providers to help customers look beyond cost savings and quantify things like convenience and customer experience.

"We aggregate that in a score that helps you have a holistic view," Briod said. "A company may be more expensive, but it's more established, has millions of users, has already transferred a billion a month, so I might go toward that."

Briod says the tools his team is building have the potential to save customers billions of dollars each year once they reach scale, and that the path there will be guided by numbers.

"It's a continuous learning process," he said. "But when you have the data you can make more informed decisions."

SEE ALSO: Founders need to 'fire' themselves every 3 to 6 months if they want their companies to grow, says the CEO of a startup disrupting the $1 trillion money-transfer industry

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• Though there is no single way to approach entrepreneurship, reading remains one of the best ways to learn what it takes to launch a business. 
• Billionaire moguls like Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett have long vouched for routinely reading — and for good reason.
• Business Insider compiled a book list recommended by wildly successful leaders. 
• "The Outsiders" by William N. Thorndike was listed as the #1 recommended reading in Warren Buffett's 2012 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Letter. Throughout the book, Thorndike analyzes what qualities make for an exceptional CEO and what character traits successful people have in come.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

There is no single way to approach entrepreneurship — that's the beauty of it. 

But one of the best ways to learn the ins and outs of entrepreneurship is to read about businesses, specifically why some companies or leaders succeed and others don't. 

Billionaire moguls like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Warren Buffett have long vouched for a routinely reading — and for good reason. The bottom line is: You are what you read, and if your goal is to build a successful company from scratch, you might want to start by learning from the vast network of books that offer archives and resources on leadership and management strategies. 

Business Insider has compiled a list of books based off recommendations from successful C-suite leaders, billionaire investors, and award-winning leadership experts. 

Here are 25 books you should read to become a better entrepreneur. 

SEE ALSO: The market for remote-work tech is now valued at more than $3 billion. Here are 7 booming startups vying for the online-office crown.

"The Third Wave" by Steve Case

When starting a business, it's useful to learn from the entrepreneur who specializes in pioneering built-to-last companies.

Steve Case is the founder of America Online (AOL) and now the CEO of Revolution, a venture-capital firm based in Washington DC. From 1985 to 2005, he led the first wave of internet companies, in which AOL became the world's largest internet provider. In "The Third Wave," the billionaire shares his take on how the digital era will be a critical force to the American economy.

In an interview with Business Insider, Case referred to the internet's "third wave" as a boom in entrepreneurship across industry sectors. He's believes the future of startups is outside Silicon Valley, and he's using his platform to invest in New York and Boston companies. 

Case's book argues that emerging tech companies are on track to transform our lives on a bigger scale than we might think. 

Get it here >>

"The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand

Self-made billionaire Mark Cuban told Business Insider that this book is a required read for every entrepreneur.

"They motivate me and force me to be self-critical," he said. "One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is that we lie to ourselves. We don't step back and look at ourselves like a competitor would. These books helped me take those steps."

Rand's book talks about a young architect protagonist who, after several project failures and setbacks, finds the value in being true to oneself and rises to power. 

Similarly, several startups like Uber and TaskRabbit have stayed away from the norm and stuck to original concepts. These companies ultimately transformed industries.

Get it here >>

"Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't" by Jim Collins

"Good to Great" is among the leadership books that is applicable to today's changing workplace. 

Collins spent five years researching which qualities allow companies to excel, and the results prompted him to identify eight common traits, that "good to great," companies share.

By identifying patterns and pinpointing how certain companies excel while others don't, Collins gives insights on how to power through setbacks and navigate through company transitions. 

Get it here >> 

"The Effective Executive" by Peter Drucker

This is one of the three books that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had his senior managers read for a series of all-day book clubs. Drucker helped popularize now commonplace ideas about management. For example, managers and employees should work toward a common set of goals.

"The Effective Executive" explores the time-management and decision-making habits that best equip an executive to be productive and valuable in an organization.

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"Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader" by Herminia Ibarra

Herminia Ibarra, a professor at Harvard and INSEAD business schools, is ranked as one of the top management thinkers.

"Successful leaders really believe in what they're trying to do, and they manage to be contagious in their enthusiasm for it,"she told Business Insider. "But there are many different ways of going about that."

She further expanded her ideas in the book and encouraged leaders to act first and then think so that they learn from experimentation and direct experience. "Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader" is filled with self-assessments and workplace strategies. 

Get it here >>

"How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie

"How to Win Friends & Influence People" is in the top 10 most-checked-out books from the New York Public Library.

Though it's been around since 1937, Carnegie's book offers timeless lessons for people who are looking to improve their people skills. A part of being an entrepreneur is having the social savvy to get potential investors or clients to believe in your work. 

Some of the chapters touch on how to acknowledge your mistakes, how to avoid criticizing others, and how to understand the value of charm.

Get it here >> 

"The Innovator's Dilemma" by Clayton Christensen

Bezos also had his executives read "The Innovator's Dilemma," and he did so for good reason. 

More than two decades after its published date, Harvard professor Clayton Christensen's book remains a must-read for business-school students. He provides a framework on how to think about innovation in business, and he argues that companies can rise to the forefront if they "self-disrupt."

The key takeaway from Christensen's book is for leaders to not get too comfortable with their current business models and to always be experimenting with new concepts. 

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"Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" by Carol Dweck

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has credited much of his leadership success to Carol Dweck's "Mindset." 

Dweck, a Stanford psychology professor, researched how people approach unfamiliar skills and how their mindsets impact growth. She encourages readers to see skills as learnable, flexible, and growable rather than seeing them as "fixed."

Nadella shared in a Bloomberg interview that Dweck's book helped him revamp Microsoft to its trillion-dollar valuation today. 

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"Business Adventures" by John Brooks

This collection of New Yorker stories by John Brooks became one of Bill Gates' all-time favorite business books.

"'Business Adventures' is as much about the strengths and weaknesses of leaders in challenging circumstances as it is about the particulars of one business or another,"Gates wrote in a LinkedIn post in 2014. "In that sense, it is still relevant not despite its age but because of it."

One of the key lessons from the book is that you shouldn't place yourself in a situation you can't get out of.

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"Benjamin Franklin" by Walter Isaacson

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk says this book is one of his all-time favorites. In fact, he has repeatedly described Benjamin Franklin as one of his heroes.

"You can see how [Franklin] was an entrepreneur," Musk said in an interview with Foundation. "He was an entrepreneur. He started from nothing. He was just a runaway kid."

In this book, Isaacson narrates the life of an American founder. Franklin's famous kite experiment led to the invention of the lightning rod. He also invented bifocals and eyeglasses. 

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"An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth" by Col. Chris Hadfield

Chris Hadfield's autobiography documenting his 4,000 hours spent in space is yet another one of Nadella's book recommendations.

In 2014, Nadella tweeted a quote from this book, "Focus on the journey, not on arriving at a certain destination," along with "Great read!"

"An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth" isn't necessarily an entrepreneurial rulebook like some on this list, but Hadfield's bestselling book shares how his experience in outer space changed the way he views life on earth. 

His, literally, out-of-the-world experience led him to approach life with a new perspective. 

Get it here >> 

"Start with Why: How Great leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action" by Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek is a leadership expert and the author of four books. 

In "Start with Why," he emphasizes the importance of redirecting your focus from what your business does to why it matters to people. The author encourages readers to question why some people and organizations are more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others and draw the differences between short-term and repeated long-term success.

The author argues that entrepreneurs can figure out the "how" in running a business once they identify the "why." 

Get it here >>

"Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill

Daymond John, millionaire investor on "Shark Tank,"told Business Insider that Napoleon Hill's 1937 classic, "Think and Grow Rich," changed his life.

The author's book is a collection of insights based on interviews with Carnegie, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford that explains how these leaders develop the drive and habits to maximize potential, Business Insider reported.

"The main takeaway from that was goal-setting," John said. "It was the fact that if you don't set a specific goal, then how can you expect to hit it?"

Get it here >>

"Conscious Capitalism" by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia

Kip Tindell, cofounder and retired CEO of The Container Store, told Business Insider that this is a must-read for entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Tindell is close friends with John Mackey, cofounder of Whole Foods Market and the author of this book. They both believe in Conscious Capitalism— that a win-win is what's most profitable, and that no one has to lose.

Mackey and Sisodia frame their chapters around four tenets: higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership, and conscious culture and management. A better understanding of these pillars will build stronger businesses, they argue. 

Get it here >>

"The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success" by William N. Thorndike, Jr.

Warren Buffett listed "The Outsiders" as the #1 recommended reading in the 2012 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Letter. 

Throughout the book, author William N. Thorndike analyzes what qualities make for an exceptional CEO. He looks for patterns that successful executives share, and he also compares character traits like charisma, management styles, and communication skills in leaders.

"Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World" by René Girard

Peter Thiel, billionaire investor and cofounder of PayPal, considers this book as Girard's masterpiece.

Thiel first read "Things Hidden" when he was an undergraduate at Stanford University, he told Business Insider. While he called it "an intimidating book," it deeply affected the way he views the world and business.

Thiel found Girard's thinking on these two points especially powerful:

(1) Competitors tend to become obsessed with their rivals at the expense of their substantive goals, and because of that (2) the intensity of competition doesn't tell you anything about underlying value. People will compete fiercely for things that don't matter, and once they're fighting they'll fight harder and harder.

Get it here >>

"Emotional Intelligence: The Groundbreaking Book that Redefines What it Means to be Smart" by Daniel Goleman

Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and New York Times journalist, breaks down five crucial skills for emotional intelligence in his book. He wrote that having skills like compassion and empathy can affect our personal and business relationships. 

Soft skills are just as important as technical knowledge in running a business, and the author provides vivid examples as to how to achieve emotional awareness. 

Get it here >> 

"Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas that Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries" by Safi Bahcall

A 2019 annual Bloomberg survey of CEOs and entrepreneurs listed Bahcall's "Loonshots" as the #1 recommended book.

Fellow entrepreneur Bahcall analyzes group behaviors and what leads people to conform. Additionally, he studies how groups shift from embracing radical change to resisting it — whether that's on a corporate project, in politics, or even in a traffic jam.

Get it here >>

"The Obstacle is the Way" by Ryan Holiday

Early-stage investor Tim Ferriss built a name for himself after major success of his book, "The 4-Hour Workweek" that documented his entrepreneurial journey to building income with less work hours. The author told Business Insider that Ryan Holiday's "The Obstacle is the Way" is among his favorite holiday reads. 

The 2014 book examines leaders like Marcus Aurelius and Steve Jobs who effectively led others using the principles of ancient Greek Stoicism.

Get it here >>

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" by Richard P. Feynman

Google cofounder Sergey Brin told the Academy of Achievement in 2015 that Richard Feynman's autobiography inspired him to dedicate his career to blending technology and creativity. Feynman (1918-88) won the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in quantum electrodynamics.

"Aside from making really big contributions in his own field, he was pretty broad-minded," Brin said of Feynman. "I remember he had an excerpt where he was explaining how he really wanted to be a Leonardo [da Vinci], an artist and a scientist. I found that pretty inspiring. I think that leads to having a fulfilling life."

Get it here >>

"Janesville: An American Story" by Amy Goldstein

Amy Goldstein's "Janesville"was awarded the Financial Times and McKinsey's title of Business Book of the Year in 2017. 

The Washington Post journalist and Pulitzer Prize award-winner spent six years reporting on a Wisconsin town's struggles after its General Motors plant closed. She witnessed first-hand how the residents went through retraining to find jobs again. 

Several industries are going through major transformations as technology advancements call for new skills. Goldstein's book offers a glimpse into where the American economy is headed after this shift. 

"Zero to One" by Peter Thiel

John Sculley, the former president of Pepsi and ex-CEO of Apple, told Business Insider in 2016 that his top book recommendation for tech entrepreneurs is "Zero to One."

Sculley, said that this 2014 bestseller by PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel is important for two reasons: It focuses on how you can harness technology to build a business of the future, and it enforces the importance of knowing what you're doing before you dive into a startup.

Get it here >>

"Reality Check" by Guy Kawasaki

Penelope Trunk, a serial entrepreneur and the cofounder of virtual-event platform Brazen Careerist, said she loves to flip through the chapters of this book.

"Each one is like a blog post, so you learn something on every page," she said. "And each chapter reminds me to be a little bit better at something I'm doing already."

Kawasaki's book offers a guide to build and withstand a business. He brings up corporate failures and relevant news throughout the book and draw from real examples. 

Get it here >>

"New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World — and How to Make it Work for You" by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms

In "New Power," coauthors Heimans and Timms examine "power" through case studies that range from tech giants like Facebook and Uber to the emergence of the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements. 

There are clear differentiation's between old and new power, and they operate differently as technology and digital advancements become more prominent,  the authors said. While old power was "held by a few," new power remains more fluid and is made by many. 

This book offers a play-by-play on how to build long-lasting power in modern time.  

Get it here >>

"Influence" by Robert B. Cialdini

An essential skill for any entrepreneur is persuasion. In fact, Basecamp founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson recommends this book for anyone in business. 

Cialdini's highly-acclaimed bestseller teaches six universal principles to become a persuader. His pointers are based off decades of scientific research and experiments. 

"'Influence' teaches you how to sell and deal with customers by treating them as humans," he said. "Great stuff."

Get it here >>

Jenna Goudreau contributed to an earlier version of this post. 

• In 1971 at the age of 30, Tom Golisano started a payroll and human resources company with just $3,000 and a credit card — today, he is one of the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of $3 billion.
• Golisano credits his success to a tactic that some young entrepreneurs may find difficult to swallow: Don't disparage your competition, embrace them.
• He says that learning from your competitors' success will make your company better, and it's important to ensure that your employees follow the same principles.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In 1971, Tom Golisano had just $3,000 to his name and a credit card. With his limited resources, Golisano launched a payroll processing company and called it Paychex. Today, that Rochester, New York-based company is a public company and Golisano, the son of a macaroni salesman and a seamstress, is worth several billion.

In his new book, "Built, Not Born," Golisano offers no-nonsense lessons on what it takes to start and grow a company from scratch. One effective sales tactic that he says all entrepreneurs should follow is to never disparage the competition and to embrace them instead. 

"Some entrepreneurs take an almost insane delight in dragging their competition through the mud," writes Golisano. "I think only losers take that approach."

In my personal experience as a CEO communication adviser, I've found that many of the most admired global leaders take Golisano's approach. In fact, some CEOs tell me they ask job candidates a question about the company's competition to see how they handle it. If they dismiss or dispatch the competition completely, they're not leadership material.
 
In contrast, here are three reasons why Golisano says you should avoid trashing your competition.

SEE ALSO: Billionaires' success boils down to a set of 3 personality traits that aren't directly tied to intelligence, a new report says

DON'T MISS: An entrepreneur who interviewed 21 billionaires says the same 6 habits helped make all of them successful

1. Complimenting competitors shows integrity

Golisano's strategy was always to compliment the competition, since people don't expect that. Your prospects are weighing a number of reasons to do business with your startup. Maybe you offer a better price than your competitors, unique features, or better service.

But customers also want to have faith in you and your company. They want to do business with people they trust. Demean your competition and you erode trust.

"Most potential customers will take a dim view of your company if your salespeople openly criticize the competition," Golisano writes. If you set a high standard of integrity, "your employees will respect you and be even stronger team players — they will be proud to work for your company."

2. Competitors provide a wealth of information

One advantage that entrepreneurs have against existing competitors is that you know what you're up against and it's harder for competitors to change quickly. That means you can position your product or service favorably in terms of features, advantages, or benefits.

For example, when Golisano launched Paychex, the prices his competitors charged were very well-known in the industry. Armed with that knowledge, Golisano could structure his company to set the price a little lower and still make a healthy profit margin. It took a while for his competitors to adjust, giving Golisano time to gain traction in the market.

3. Competition forces you to be different

Back when Golisano hit the road to sell his product, prospects almost always brought up the biggest company in the market at that time — ADP. How was he different?

Golisano used the question as an opportunity to differentiate his startup. He would tell the prospect that ADP is "the leader in large-company payroll processing and we are the leader in small-business payroll processing." He added that without ADP's "pioneering work," Paychex wouldn't exist. All true.

Once Golisano had established trust, he would highlight the specific differences between the two companies and how Paychex might be a better fit for the prospect. In his book, he wrote that this approach sits well with both potential customers and salespeople.

Paychex has come a long way since Golisano was knocking on doors as a one-person sales team. Today, the company says it signs up 2,000 new customers a week. As company chairman, Golisano still makes it a policy that no Paychex employee should ever disparage the competition.

"Competition is good," he said. "Good competition is better."

Golisano also points out that any aspiring entrepreneur had better learn to sell an idea, product, or service.

"Nothing happens in a company until someone sells something," he writes. "The act of selling and the art of negotiation are imperative to every business on the planet."

• Dreamers // Doers is a networking community of female entrepreneurs, creatives, and change-makers.
• Its members are founders and executives of large companies and visionary startups, and many of them have their own experiences dealing with and overcoming imposter syndrome.
• CEO Meha Agrawal said: "I view imposter syndrome as a true sign that I am operating outside of my comfort zone, where all the 'magic' tends to happen."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If there was any inkling that COVID-19 wouldn't have permanent implications on the world as we know it, the recent weeks have aggressively solidified the reality of the situation. It's no longer a matter of if the coronavirus has affected us, but rather to what degree.

In this pivotal time, we each have a decision in how we respond. We can allow these major shifts to control us, or we can emerge in innovation and conquer the new challenges our world is facing. 

Of course, by choosing the latter, it's inevitable that stepping into new, uncharted areas can trigger imposter syndrome — feelings of inadequacy, intimidation, and illegitimacy.

But that's OK; just ask these female founders and leaders, each of whom have experienced imposter syndrome firsthand, yet ultimately harnessed it into a competitive edge. Their stories and lessons show that we can't let imposter syndrome win. In a time as critical as the one we're currently living, we need to trust our instincts and lean into the unknown — because it's up to us to create our new reality.

SEE ALSO: How being 'different' helped these 14 female entrepreneurs find their niche and made them more successful

DON'T MISS: 27 founders share how they knew what type of company to start

1. Helen-Sage Lee

CEO & cofounder, PRISM Bags

How imposter syndrome has affected me: When I was 18, my twin sister Rachel and I started a movement in California to end what we believed was a huge injustice: the tax on feminine hygiene products, now known as the Tampon Tax. Our campaign gained a lot of momentum worldwide, and we were invited to work with the California Assembly to help the creation of over four bills in California.

Being very young, it was hard not to believe that it was a fluke, or that young, female Asian American girls my age were not smart or powerful enough to coexist in a predominantly white, male-dominated space. Despite the fact that we were invited into the legislative space for making well-researched and nuanced arguments, I found myself at odds with people on the internet often telling us that it was luck and timing rather than our own skills, talent, and ability to coherently argue for change. It shook my confidence, and at the time, I didn't have the vocabulary to understand that what I was experiencing was imposter syndrome. 

How I turned imposter syndrome into a competitive edge: Over time, I learned that imposter syndrome is a byproduct of our environment. Often, where we lack representation, that creates, distorts, and disrupts a reality that we are actually capable, competent, and intelligent, despite what the rest of the world may be telling us to internalize. 

Fine-tuning that anxious internal line of questioning of, "Am I a fraud? Do I really belong here?" to "What can I bring to my seat at the table that not a lot of people can?" has been extremely helpful to my growth, particularly in the entrepreneurial space, where you're constantly learning to do something new. As a woman working in tech and as a first-time cofounder and CEO of a company that works to empower women through elevated essentials, that powerful shift in perspective became an ability to be very present and aware that my environment isn't always welcoming to those who look like me. 

2. Nikki Goldman

CEO, I/O Coaching

How imposter syndrome has affected me: In my first year of coaching, I was referred to a few big speaking opportunities. I convinced myself I wasn't ready for them and they wouldn't want to listen to what I had to say, so I let them fall away. Almost exactly a year later, I accepted the same opportunity and spoke on the same topic to a standing ovation. It was an eye-opening moment of self-sabotage, and showed me why I needed to let go of imposter syndrome. 

How I turned imposter syndrome into a competitive edge: I have learned to lower the stakes by leaning into my growth mindset. When I hear negative self-talk creeping in (which inevitably happens!), I try to approach my situation from a place of pure curiosity. By asking myself questions, I'm not only able to see the situation more objectively but also able to approach it more creatively. If I'm doing it all in the name of a growth mindset, then it's all for the sake of learning, and thus, failure doesn't matter.

3. Julie Fogh

Founder, Vital Voice Training

How imposter syndrome has affected me: In many ways imposter syndrome has kept me from sending that email to people I want to talk to, has caused me to beat myself up over missed deadlines, and has delayed communication. It has sometimes kept me from disagreeing with an idea that just felt wrong, because who was I to challenge structures?

How I turned imposter syndrome into a competitive edge: I work with a lot of women who are doing big, world changing things, and my job is to get their ideas ready for the stage or meeting and teach them to speak with confidence. I have learned that 100% of our clients have imposter syndrome. Because I have it too, I was able to come to examine it with curiosity, and not just a rubber band snap "stop it" kind of advice. 

What I've come to is this: You do not have to be the best person to be entitled to voice an idea. Sometimes you are not the best person, but you are the only person. Sometimes you just want to speak up about something. This also has led to some serious investigation into ideas of what and who people think is the "best" to speak out about something. Turns out, there really is no such thing. Starting to look at who are the arbiters of "right" has been a cornerstone of our business core values, and has seen us help many voices emerge with confidence that takes away the right/wrong, better/worse binaries. It's become what we are known for.

4. Meha Agrawal

Founder & CEO, Silk + Sonder

How imposter syndrome has affected me: As a former software engineer, imposter syndrome became a daily battle for me. In programming, code must compile to run, and an unexpected bug could cost you hours, which manifests in doubt, frustration, and impatience. This pattern of second-guessing, especially when things seem to be working, followed me from my days as a software engineer into my days as a founder and CEO. As an early-stage CEO, I have to wear multiple hats and am often tinkering in areas of the business where I have no foundation or formal skills. I feel imposter syndrome creep in frequently — if I'm adding goals on Google Analytics, I find myself fearful that I may accidentally break something in the check out flow or in the ads we have running. 

How I turned imposter syndrome into a competitive edge: I view imposter syndrome as a true sign that I am operating outside of my comfort zone, where all the "magic" tends to happen. I remind myself that (almost) every action is irreversible, and that if I'm questioning my ability, that means I'm on the verge of something exciting on the other end of that discomfort. 

5. Bieke Claes

General Manager — US, Culture Trip

How imposter syndrome has affected me: Facilitating weekly team leads meetings is part of my role as the general manager at Culture Trip, and the first time I had to run one of these, imposter syndrome hit me hard. People tend to overestimate the importance of skills they don't have, and since the nature of my job is to be a generalist, the idea of leading managers who are experts in their domains was intimidating. I came out of my first meeting beating myself up and feeling like I couldn't fully support my team with the solutions they needed. But just minutes later people were approaching me saying how great the meeting was. Hearing their feedback made me realize how being a leader in a new role was less about having all the answers, and more about establishing trust with my coworkers. 

How I turned imposter syndrome into a competitive edge: Whenever I feel the symptoms of imposter syndrome coming on, that's when I know I need to dive into an impossible task. Small tasks that everyone can do result in high expectations for success. Big tasks that seem unattainable means there's an expectation of failure, and I find that empowering. Freed from the fear of failure, I can focus on going the extra mile to find creative paths to conquer the unachievable. I always fall back on one of my favorite quotes: "If plan A doesn't work, remember that you have 25 letters left."

6. Melina Flabiano

Founder, Keaton

How imposter syndrome has affected me: When I joined the strategy team at Pandora Jewelry, I was 24. I often led project teams with members who were further along in their careers — in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. I was very intimidated, because these people were much more experienced than me, and I wasn't sure how I could ask them to deliver on objectives that I set. I was scared they wouldn't view me as legitimate. 

How I turned imposter syndrome into a competitive edge: Being forced to confront my imposter syndrome made me a stronger leader. When setting objectives for my team, I first built consensus around the data that I was using to set our strategy. This created a fact-based foundation that we could all agree on and meant that I didn't need to worry about appearing legitimate, because we were all looking at the same numbers. It allowed me to be collaborative while still telling a clear story about where we were as a team, and where we were trying to go.

7. Christine Su

Founder, My Financial Counsel

How imposter syndrome has affected me: I grew up in Taiwan, and there's nothing quite like a public reprimanding — in front of an entire school of 2,500, for a small mistake I made as a homeroom rep — to cement one's imposter syndrome. I eventually regained courage to take leadership roles in college and at work, but the imposter syndrome stayed — it was like a part of me believed it was just a matter of time before I'd somehow get exposed as a fraud, again and again. 

While that fear drove me to do better work than others to prove myself, it also caused me to make myself small in an effort to not attract attention. That meant good work went unnoticed or underappreciated, which I didn't mind initially — until I realized in the long run it hurt me and my colleagues more, because I didn't advocate for us.

How I turned imposter syndrome into a competitive edge: Since my imposter syndrome was not going anywhere (some scars run deep!), instead of trying so hard to eradicate it, I decided to lean into it as a motivation, but I rewired my brain with a different logic — I must share progress and advocate for my team, so that in the (unlikely) event of being exposed for something, we all know that it was not because of lack of effort, but rather of something unexpected or outside our control. This mental hack has been instrumental as I begin the fundraising journey for our startup.

8. Sophie Marie Alcorn

Founder, Alcorn Immigration Law

How imposter syndrome has affected me: I took some time off from my law career to be a stay-at-home mom for a few years. I lost my sense of professional identity. I also moved and lost my network. I thought that it would be impossible to practice law again.

How I turned imposter syndrome into a competitive edge: I attended a design-thinking career workshop at Stanford called "Building a Career of Meaning and Impact." A fellow student named Begonia, who I will never forget, told me, "Don't worry, just fake it 'til you make it." I took that to heart and it was my mantra for months. The mantra eventually shifted to "Fake it 'til you believe it, because you already are it." I am so appreciative of how much goodness has flowed into my life as a result of this attitude. My firm is flourishing and we're supporting people around the world to manifest their potential every day.

9. Tamara Laine

Chief Marketing Officer, A.Lynn Designs

How imposter syndrome has affected me: Starting off as a content creator, I found myself thrust into a job opportunity that I was unprepared for. I was overwhelmed and unprepared. The only thing I knew was that if I survived, I would live to fight another day. I took a beating for errors in my writing on that job, but in that momentary hit to my pride, I learned that greater leaps in success can be gained through jumping into situations you think you are unqualified for. 

How I turned imposter syndrome into a competitive edge: Learning to work with imposter syndrome is discovering that life and success are not about competition, but finding value in the people around you. Before I reframed my outlook, I felt like I had to be the best and know the most in order to create groundbreaking content and thrive. But what I realized was my vulnerabilities actually lead me to spot talented and exceptional people in every environment I enter. By evaluating others' strengths and seeing them as assets, not personal liabilities, I have been able to build my community and it has helped to create more genuine content.  

• Ashley Alderson is an entrepreneur and founder of the Boutique Hub, a company that gives business advice to independent retailers and boutique owners, and offer monthly memberships for access to resources like vendors and video seminars.
• In the time of coronavirus, Alderson said that small retailers need more support than ever to keep their companies afloat.
• "They need to know how to transition to online sales if they're not already doing so."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Long before she became an entrepreneur, Ashley Alderson learned how to adapt and pivot.

A Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis at age 21 turned into a months-long struggle, but even while undergoing biweekly chemo treatments, Alderson donned a blond wig and managed to compete in and win the 2007 Miss Rodeo America pageant. In 2015, two years after launching a startup that connected boutique owners with customers, a business partner stole around $20,000 — the bulk of what Alderson and her husband had invested in the company — and locked her out of client email listings. At the time, she thought: "I could either give up or make this happen another way."

She chose the latter, pivoting the remaining skeleton of her startup into an online community that allows boutique owners to learn from one another and swap business lessons. Today, her Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin-based company, the Boutique Hub, is thriving. With more than 4,500 members, each paying between $24 and $49 a month for the company's services, including boot camps, local events, and a flagship annual conference that stretches over two and a half days, the company booked $2.5 million in revenue last year. In 2020, it landed at No. 10 on the first annual Inc. 5000 Series: Midwest list, a ranking of the fastest-growing companies based in the region.

Alderson's newest challenge is providing resources and support to boutique owners as they grapple with how to survive temporarily closing their shops' doors because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Alderson's success to date is due as much to her own stamina as it is to her timing. Eight months after Alderson agreed to merge her business — including PayPal accounts, contact lists, and social media groups — with that of another founder she met online, the new business partner failed to complete the legal paperwork cementing the deal. Alderson was spooked and backed out of the partnership, prompting the other founder to empty the shared PayPal account and block her from the contacts.

In an effort to save her business, Alderson turned to Facebook. There, she looked to rebuild her connections with the boutique community, offering free business resources and asking what retailers needed most. Her timing couldn't have been better: This was 2016, and independent retailers were concerned about changes in shoppers' behavior and a potential brick-and-mortar downturn that would hurt their businesses. More than ever, she said, they needed advice on how to reach customers online and scale their operations.

So Alderson tweaked the Boutique Hub to meet those needs. Whereas previously the company simply connected boutique owners with online customers through an online platform and social media, the business became a one-stop shop, offering access to industry information and vendor networks, discounts on tools and services like accounting software, and video seminars. "If we can change a business, we can change a life, a family, and a whole community," said Alderson, whose company has 15 employees. 

She has her work cut out for her. Online shopping has become a bigger driver of retail sales, which means both she and her clients face the challenge of staying on top of social media trends, changing algorithms, and the competition to be seen on every platform. What's more, overall boutique sales are in decline. US boutiques reported a 1.8% drop in revenue to $18 billion last year, according to market research firm IBIS World.

Harder still will be the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced retailers across the country to, at least temporarily, close up shop. They need to know how to transition to online sales if they're not already doing so, said Alderson. They also need to learn where to access government assistance if it's available. "Everyone is focused on finding answers right now," she adds, noting that the Boutique Hub is allowing non-members to access blog posts and podcasts that touch on subjects like SEO best practices and live-selling online, which lets retailers showcase their inventory to viewers on social platforms like Facebook. 

The Boutique Hub has its own business challenges now, too. The company has already seen a dip in memberships as some owners cut expenses and operate on leaner budgets. Alderson said she's planning on rescheduling the company's annual conference, which was slated for June, but is waiting to set a date. 

It's a tough niche to be in today, said Santiago Gallino, a retail expert and assistant professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Beyond simply competing with online retailers, boutiques live or die based on how well they curate inventory to keep customers coming back, said Gallino. The most successful boutique owners need to master the effective use of promotions and markdowns, as well as find new ways to maintain relationships with shop visitors, he added. 

While the Boutique Hub promises to help owners navigate all of the above issues, the retail industry — and Alderson's business — is itself wading through uncharted territory. Still, she remains upbeat. "I had a doctor tell me, after I was diagnosed, that a positive attitude is just as important as chemo," she said. "That opened my eyes to the power of a positive mindset."

SEE ALSO: How 9 female entrepreneurs turned imposter syndrome into a competitive edge

READ MORE: I spoke to Joe Biden, Abigail Disney, and other leaders about how they dealt with tough times and came out on top. Here's what they said.

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• Dreamers // Doers is a networking community of female entrepreneurs, creatives, and change-makers.
• Many of its members are working mothers who have learned to balance family while leading successful startups and small businesses.
• They say that becoming a parent taught them how to maximize their time, be more calm under pressure, and promote a better work-life balance for their employees and themselves.  
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's clear that all of our lives have been altered. One group that has undoubtedly been affected is parents — specifically working parents, and, even more specifically, working mothers, who, as one study shows, are more stressed and worried than their male counterparts during this time.

Nearly overnight, the life of a working mother was flipped upside down. No school. No extracurriculars. No guaranteed time their child would be away from the house learning. Instead, those constants were replaced with homeschooling, creativity, and flexibility — all under one roof, and with the continued responsibility of running a business or clocking into work.

But if there is anything mothers have shown us from the moment they give birth, it's that they are resilient, strong, and adaptable. To get an inside look into the lives of working mothers, we spoke with 11 powerhouse women who also hold the title of "mom." They shared with us their lessons learned, biggest challenges, and best pieces of advice for juggling a professional journey with the beautiful journey of motherhood.

COVID-19 or not, these mothers have stepped up, both as parents and working professionals. And whether you are a parent or not, there are invaluable lessons we can all learn from their experiences.

SEE ALSO: How being 'different' helped these 14 female entrepreneurs find their niche and made them more successful

DON'T MISS: 27 founders share how they knew what type of company to start

1. Ana Pompa Alarcón

CEO, findSisterhood

How motherhood made me better at my job: I don't think I'd be able to handle startup life without my kids. Since becoming a mom, I needed a purpose in life — something I can be proud of and show my children one day. I wasn't going to send them to daycare for a job that just pays the bills. 

After raising our first round of investment, hiring a team, and having users from all over the world, things got real very quickly. My kids kept me grounded and focused on what truly mattered. During rough times when I was too exhausted to keep going, they gave me the reason to never give up. When things don't work out the way I want them to, looking at my kids puts things in perspective. Leila and Ezra are my real superpower and endless energy resource. They give meaning to everything I do. 

My advice to other mothers: People know that I have children, they understand my priorities, and they appreciate that having such strong values ultimately makes me a better and more reliable founder. Being transparent about the hustle that comes with having children helps my community to understand better when I need support.

2. Stacie Sussman

Owner & founder, SSR Digital Group

How motherhood made me better at my job: Being a mother made me more efficient with my time and has given me the ability to hustle harder. Since my working window has tightened, as I want to be present with my kids, I now have the ability to become even more laser focused when I get to work. 

My advice to other mothers: Block out time on your calendar for everything. I swear this has saved me! I block out time for projects, deliverables, meetings, and self care. I have even gone so far to color code my calendar to make it clear when something is related to business or family. 

3. Elle Wang

Founder & CEO, Emilia George

How motherhood made me better at my job: My business came from being a mother. I started my company when I was seven months pregnant because I experienced a lack of sustainable, high-quality, and functional clothes as a pregnant woman. Motherhood made this business personal to me. It's never just to buy and sell, but it's creating value-add to the motherhood collective for all women. 

My advice to other mothers: I used to get riled up and stressed about work a lot more frequently before my son was born. Now, I keep reminding myself, "Elle, every minute you spend away from your son should be well spent and worthy of your time away from him." That really helps me not sweat the small things anymore.  

4. Kristen Sonday

Cofounder & COO, Paladin

How motherhood made me better at my job: Motherhood has taught me how to ruthlessly prioritize so that I'm maximizing the impact of my time for both my family and my business. Now, I don't feel bad saying "no" to projects and events that don't move my company forward, and my time is much more focused whether I'm at home or the office. Plus, it's made me more aware of and empathetic towards our employees and clients who have kids. 

My advice to other mothers: This world can be really confusing (and exhausting) to navigate, so having a few go-to women who have been through it and can offer actionable advice makes a huge difference.

5. Wendy Heilbut

Founder & partner, Jayaram Law

How motherhood made me better at my job: I took about five years away from my traditional career when my kids were young, but coming back to work was when the real learning happened. Every day is a new exercise in balance! I am so much better at my job because I understand people so much better — having a child, and knowing someone else that intimately has helped me see where each of us differs and is similar.  

My advice to other mothers: Outsource what you can, and save time for what you care about most. Maybe that means more takeout, a nanny who also does laundry, or letting your kids take the school bus.

6. Shannon Emmerson

President, Forge & Spark Media

How motherhood made me better at my job: The experience of taking maternity leave was life-changing for me. In Canada, we get a year away from our jobs, and in that year, I realized that I dreaded returning to mine — both because of the toxic culture, and because I realized that I had become someone I didn't like while working there: selfish, competitive, and self-important. 

Perhaps because of this, nothing fit anymore when I returned. The business was suffering, and my role had changed — but I had changed, too. When I got laid off eight months in, I had already decided to start and grow a business I felt good about being involved in every day, with people I genuinely cared about, doing work at a quality I felt proud of. I'm proud to say that I'm still going strong.  

My advice to other mothers: See and acknowledge what is, without judgment. Love it, if you can. It won't be there for long. 

7. Rachel Berkey

Founder & CEO, Thimble Collection

How motherhood made me better at my job: In managing our team of mothers, I have found that the more freedom and flexibility we give them to be parents first (and colleagues second), the more committed they actually are to the organization. If someone knows she can take off time when a child is sick or something unexpected happens, she will step up and put in extra effort to help someone else on the team have that same flexibility when they need it.

My advice to other mothers: Juggling day-to-day priorities becomes much easier when I remind myself what the alternatives are for everyone involved — my husband and I are the only ones who can fill the role of parents for our children when they need us, while a fair amount of what I do professionally can be done at another time or by another person. Every commitment, every deadline, and every decision to delegate needs to be compatible with your family's needs.

8. Randle Browning

Content Strategist

How motherhood made me better at my job: One of the most unexpected changes I've experienced is a sense of confidence and capability that I will be able to handle whatever comes up. Where I might have panicked in the past, I now trust myself to handle tough situations. This has been most apparent in my creative work as a musician and on interviews and pitch calls with clients. Performance anxiety can't inspire the same terror now that I've made it through birth and taken care of a newborn.

My advice to other mothers: It has been so important for me to make friends with other parents. I joined an organized new parents group eight weeks after my daughter was born. Having those moms to check in, commiserate, and celebrate with has made every milestone infinitely easier, from baby sleeping through the night to mom going back to work. 

9. Kandice B. Watson

Founder, BNDL

How motherhood made me better at my job: Once I became a mother, my level of focus and productivity rose to an all-time high. My intention was to optimize time, because after having my twins I realized what a precious resource time was. It also happened that time flew quicker than ever before, an hour felt like a minute, so the amount of things I had to accomplish for them had to be efficient, and then the time away from them working had to be structured with each item prioritized.

My advice to other mothers: Take at least an hour for yourself a day! It is not selfish. You are at the center of your family — the energy source for your kids and/or your partner, so you have to make sure your tank is full. I take a bath, watch a show, read, or chat with a friend. 

10. Erika Murdock Balbuena

Global Head of Impact Computing, Amazon Web Services

How motherhood made me better at my job: I've learned to be more present and bring focus to being with the children or doing work. If I'm with them, I do my absolute best to not look at my phone unless we're choosing music for a dance party and when I'm at work, I'm at work. 

My advice to other mothers: Make time for yourself because, as Carl Jung said, "Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent." 

11. Rebecca Smith

Founder & CEO, RECLINER

How motherhood made me better at my job: If you think starting and running a business is hard, consider this: There is no greater pressure than being a mother for the first time. Learning to breathe through pressure so you can apply yourself effectively takes enormous will and presence of mind. It's a constant gear shift that requires a great deal of control, and I think any mother would agree that parenting (especially in the early days) is the greatest test of this. 

My advice to other mothers: Once you accept that you will not run a marathon every day, you'll be happier. Some days you have to go slower, some days you're limping. It doesn't matter — as long as you are moving forward. 

• Jen Glantz is a bestselling author and the founder and CEO of Bridesmaid for Hire, a boutique services company that offers professional bridesmaids who "take care of all your wedding dirty work."
• After starting her own company, Glantz realized she would inevitably make mistakes, as all business leaders do.
• She spoke with four professional experts to ask their advice on how to bounce back after a business mistake, and maintain your credibility with your colleagues and clients.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

When you start your own business, you pull from the long list of strengths you have, but you bring in your weaknesses as well. One of my weaknesses is my lack of attention to detail, which causes me to send emails with misspelled words or even contracts with missing information.

I learned early on that making mistakes is something that happens to even the most well-known businesses. How does a business recover after it's made a mistake, whether the mistake impacted a single client or thousands of people? Here are the four best ways to apologize to your audience without compromising your credibility.

DON'T MISS: As a female entrepreneur, I've been rejected over 100 times — here are 5 ways to turn a 'no' into a moment of success

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1. Communicate as early as possible

When you make a mistake, it can be easy to want to hide it and hope that people don't notice. But that approach can hurt you more than help you.

Marc Prosser, CEO and cofounder of ChoosingTherapy, advises companies to communicate early, often, and with as much detail as possible when they make a mistake. 

"When I was at an online brokerage, there was an error in some of the account statements. Within an hour of noticing the error, we emailed our clients that an error had occurred and why the error happened," said Prosser. "We did not know when we would be able to fix the issue, if it was going to be a matter of hours or days. We also shared that we did not have certainty over the timeline. However, we had set-up a page on our website, where we would be providing updates as soon as we had new information."

Sharing updates and addressing the issue will help you build trust again with your audience and delete the idea from their mind that you're covering something up.

2. Skip the idea that you have to use the word 'sorry'

You might think that apologizing for a mistake has to include the word "sorry." But Laura Handrick, a certified professional in human resources, advises people to skip the notion that they need to bluntly apologize for the mistake that was made. 

"I don't recommend apologizing for the mistake, as we all make mistakes. Instead, state that you made a mistake in as a matter-of-fact way as you can," said Handrick. "Tell the person you've harmed what you're going to do to fix the mistake and avoid it in the future. Then, thank the person for their understanding."

Pick your word choice carefully and follow up with a plan of how to avoid it happening again. This will show you're prepared and thinking ahead.

3. Set your emotions aside

Making a mistake can cause internal panic and insecurity. But instead of letting your emotions decide your response, separate them from your apology.

Bina Patel, the CEO of Conflict Resolution Centers and Bina Consulting, recommends working hard to make sure your customers don't sense your panic.

"While it's okay to lose your mind on the back end, your client does not need to see you panic. Panic is a reactive emotion and contagious," said Patel. "If you panic, your client will naturally panic. Take the emotions out and stay calm! Think strategically, so give yourself at least 24 hours to figure out a strategy to mitigate the issue before heading to your client's doorstep."

4. Understand the truth about your credibility

One thing to remember is that your credibility as a company is created by a combination of factors, from how others speak about you, to your product or service. This means that even if you make a mistake, your credibility won't be completely tarnished.

CJ Deguara is a business entrepreneur and says that the simple truth is that your credibility is more about your win-lose ratio than it is about that one mistake.

"Talk about the future, remind them of past successes. By sandwiching the mistake between past successes and future opportunities, you can minimize the mistake while still taking full responsibility," said Deguara.

Understand that mistakes will happen with you and your business. When they do, remove the emotion and come up with a game plan. Your customers will appreciate your open communication and forward thinking.

• First-time entrepreneurs are good at coming up with innovative ideas, but many of them struggle to turn that idea into a profitable business. 
• Running a business also requires soft skills such as interacting well with other people, including partners, investors, and customers.
• It's important to provide a clear and realistic business plan to potential investors, and try to find a cofounder with the business skills that you may lack.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

One thing I have learned the hard way in business is that implementing new ideas is usually much more difficult than conceiving the idea in the first place.

That's why I caution my aspiring entrepreneur clients against proclaiming to investors that they are a great "idea" person. The bridge from thinking and talking to doing is a long and difficult one for many to get over.

For example, I have a friend with a PhD in physics who talks passionately about starting a business producing nuclear powered batteries. I have tried to convince him the general idea alone does not make a business. His challenge is to focus on one market, consumer or commercial, with a specific design, cost, and price. Then, he'll need to patent it and create a plan to show opportunity, competition, and financial projections. Yes, there are a lot of bridges to cross.

In addition, creating a business requires leading and interacting with other people, including partners, investors, and customers. And you're not done yet.

Finally, implementation requires a commitment of real money and other resources that can't be written off so easily as an idea ahead of it's time. Yet there are clearly some positive steps I can recommend for getting you (and him) across those bridges to build a business that has a shot at success.

SEE ALSO: How to build unshakable confidence no matter what life throws at you, according to 11 entrepreneurs who have faced it all

READ MORE: 3 critical ways you can strengthen your business during the pandemic

1. Find a cofounder who has been there and done that

At least the first time around, it pays big dividends for an idea person to find a partner with the business skills you haven't tested yet. Don't assume you can outsource the implementation decisions.

You need someone you can trust and learn from every day, with equal "skin in the game."

For example, I often cite the relationship between Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, who grew Microsoft together. Bill was initially the idea person and technologist, while Steve had the business and marketing experience from Proctor & Gamble to close the business equation.

2. Create a written plan, with target milestones and metrics

I have found the process of writing down your idea, with a plan for implementation, and reviewing that plan with a business advisor, will force you to learn and acknowledge the real requirements for implementation.

Target measurements allow you to assess your business progress.

I find the best business plans are not books, but may actually start as a one-page elevator pitch that succinctly encompasses your business goals, problems and solution, opportunity, competition, and business model. A full plan may be no more than 20 pages.

3. Take your time in moving from your idea to a business

Like many aspiring entrepreneurs, you may feel impatient in rolling out your business. You may assume the hard work was finalizing the idea, and that if you build it, customers will come. The reality is that building a business always takes longer than you think, so don't quit your day job until revenue is flowing.

These days, even with the pervasive Internet and social media, it still takes time and money for your marketing and customer communication efforts to have an impact. Start creating your own personal brand through blogging, industry forums, and networking.

4. Build a strong team around you and learn from them

Don't make the mistake of relying on interns and family members to do the work. Hire only qualified team members you can trust, and listen to their feedback.

Your good idea may have come from you, but a good business requires a team. You must also learn from your customers. That will allow you to adjust as you learn more, or the market changes.

Every startup founder I know, no matter how good their idea, has had to make one or more changes or pivots, as they adjust to the challenges of the real world. Be ready for it.

5. Expand your own learning and knowledge by helping others

Once you have achieved some success as an idea person who has implemented a business, you can broaden your positive impact by mentoring and coaching other aspiring entrepreneurs, supporting worthy causes, writing a book, and speaking at leadership conferences.

For example, Bill Gates tells everyone that he has continued to learn about business from his philanthropic efforts, as well as funding more leading-edge innovations, including clean nuclear energy and global health breakthroughs.

Starting and leading a business is not rocket science, but it does require the confidence and leadership to continuously make decisions, work with other people, and the humility to recognize that continuous learning and change is required.

• Shopping apps like Poshmark have made it possible for almost anyone to start a resale business from home. 
• Founder and CEO, Manish Chandra, said the app's fundamental business model has enabled the company to operate through the coronavirus pandemic without extensive changes. 
• He predicted that the future of retail will be more personalized and immersive, with resale at the forefront. 
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Long before most Americans began working remotely during the pandemic, there was a whole crop of solopreneurs building six-figure businesses from home— which they started with little more than their phones and the clothes in their closets. 

Popular shopping apps like Poshmark have made it possible for almost anyone to start a resale business. Poshmark founder and CEO, Manish Chandra, built the app to be just that — an accessible way for millions of people to sell, ship, and shop from their homes.

"Our peer-to-peer model and extensive suite of seller tools makes it easy for anyone to earn extra income," he told Business Insider. A consumer-to-consumer model, if you will.

Chandra has over 20 years of experience building and scaling companies including Kaboodle, a social shopping business that was acquired by media giant Hearst Corporation in 2007.

Poshmark has over 60 million users in the US and just launched a stories feature on the app, similar to Instagram and Snapchat. 

Chandra said a strong logistics and inventory network is what makes Poshmark's business model more resilient to disruption than others in its space. The company's fundamental advantage during this time is that it doesn't rely on manufacturers and it already had a system in place to provide shipping for all users.

"Because of this foundation, Poshmark has been able to continue to operate without extensive changes," he said. 

Before coronavirus, the retail industry was already battling several disruptive forces — a quicker direct-to-consumer cycle, the death of shopping malls, reinventing brick-and-mortar, and a new era of marketing that advocated real over sexy. Now, as we grow accustomed to doing more from the comfort of our homes, it could benefit from the future of retail becoming more personal. 

"Our innate architecture supports this new way of life and I believe the kind of personalized and immersive retail experience fostered on our platform will be the 'new normal' going forward," Chandra said. 

Poshmark users praise its tight-knit community of shoppers and sellers, which in many ways acts as its own social media platform. "The intergenerational movement that resale has ignited is fueling the acceleration of social commerce at scale, delivering on consumers' need for connections and a newly awakened sense of community," he said. 

And resale could be at the forefront of this newly social retail industry, as Chandra said consumers are looking to platforms that prioritize financial and environmental sustainability. "If one thing is true, this pandemic has exacerbated people's need and desire for genuine connection," he said. 

SEE ALSO: The ultimate guide to selling on Poshmark, according to 6-figure sellers

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• While entrepreneurs across the country are learning to pivot online, startup incubators and accelerators are doing the same. 
• Grid110, an accelerator program in Los Angeles, redesigned its spring programs in two weeks to shift to virtual. 
• The organization's executive director and program lead explained how breakout sessions have made up for some of the natural conversation that's often lost in a group video meeting. 
• They also said Slack is more lively than ever before, as the founders are motivated to reach out to one another directly.
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If there's one thing entrepreneurs are learning in this difficult time, it's to pivot from what used to be "normal" to a "new normal," whether that's offering a new product or service, moving business online, or tossing all their big 2020 goals aside for more incremental goals. 

The same could be said for the startup accelerators and incubators helping entrepreneurs through the uncertainty and rapid changes. Spring is a popular time for new cohorts to begin, so it's a critical time for educators and mentors to continue virtually.

Y Combinator finished the last month of its winter cohort remotely and announced its spring program would launch remotely. TechStars is running its accelerator programs remotely at least through September. 500 Startups hosted its first-ever Digital Demo Day using Slack to connect founders and investors, while streaming the event on YouTube. 

Grid110 is a non-profit accelerator program in Los Angeles that mentors and develops entrepreneurs at no cost or equity share. It offers two programs each spring and fall — the Idea to Product program for first-time entrepreneurs and the Residency Program for early-stage startups.

The organization had to pivot its entire program in two weeks after shelter-in-place orders made it impossible to host its spring cohort in its Cross Campus coworking space. 

Miki Reynolds is the executive director and one of the cofounders of Grid110. Carolyn Jones is the program lead for both accelerators. They told Business Insider how they've adapted their programs to meet virtually and offer the same resources for entrepreneurs to develop their businesses.

"It's been an interesting time of trying to support the existing companies that we have that are going through a lot and are faced with lots of challenges from an economic perspective, and then try to bring on this new cohort," Reynolds said. 

SEE ALSO: The founders of a beverage startup explain the crisis checklist they're using to reevaluate 2020 goals and navigate their business post-coronavirus

MUST READ: 7 businesses tell us how they have turned to Zoom and FaceTime to host virtual yoga classes, cooking lessons, and wedding planning. Some are just scraping by, while others are bringing in more revenue than ever before.

Pivoting the entire program in 2 weeks

Jones said the Grid110 team had just finished their spring program plans and schedule when the coronavirus outbreak hit the US and businesses in Los Angeles began to close. Once the NBA season was canceled, they made the call to pivot both accelerator programs online. "I don't think it ever even came up that we weren't going to do it at all. We were going to at least try," she said.

The pandemic has left no industry unscathed. "A lot of the companies themselves are undergoing some pivots and their customers might have changed or how they reach their customers might have changed," Jones said. 

The Grid110 team started restructuring its programs by putting themselves in the founders' shoes, asking what the online experience should look like and what doesn't translate over a streaming service. It was important to Jones, the program lead, that the experience felt personable, materials were delivered effectively, and personalities could shine. 

Before COVID-19, the team was already planning to merge the two separate programs for the first month to give all founders, whether first-timers or early-stage, a core curriculum in startup fundamentals, such as identifying problems and solutions, value proposition, and customer development.

"It's actually been a more efficient process and it's been greater from a community perspective that all 20 companies are together," Reynolds said.

The team is always looking for ways to improve the experience, so they ask participants for anonymous feedback every week. They'll discuss what worked, what didn't, and how they can improve for next time.

Reynolds said it's important for the team to be overly prepared and communicate everyone's roles and transitions down to the minute.

What a typical session looks like

Founders meet twice per week and each two-hour session usually begins with an ice-breaker, which Jones said can be a simple check-in to see how everyone is feeling.

"We usually try not to center it around their company, just to open them up where they can express their personalities better," she said.

One down-side to Zoom calls is that everyone but the speaker is muted for the majority of the meeting, which can hinder the natural flow of conversation and questions. To get some of that interaction back, they implement breakout sessions after a main presentation. A Grid110 team member leads founders to discuss the topic they covered or problems they're trying to solve. 

"It's been really exciting to see the founders come alive in a breakout session because they are just as eager to help one another," Jones said. 

Scheduled one-on-one sessions with Jones and other advising team members have translated the best online, because the video-chat meetings aren't much different from in-person meetings. 

The accelerators are meant for founders to step back from daily operations and look at the bigger picture of their company and where they're trying to go. "We take these programs as a time for companies to work on their business and not in their business," Reynolds said. 

Facilitating water cooler chit-chat and building community in a virtual world

In previous cohorts, founders would often linger after meetings to talk and get to know one another. Now that sessions are virtual, founders tend to log off once the session ends. So Reynolds said the team has looked to other methods of building the community and facilitating connections. 

Slack is more lively than ever before. Reynolds said about 85 to 90% of messages on the platform are sent through direct messages. "The number of messages being sent have increased dramatically because a lot more people are being active on Slack," she said. 

That includes alumni who are logging back online to reconnect and meet new founders. "Everybody's isolated at home and it gives them an outlet to connect with other entrepreneurs regardless of if they participated in a program this year or four years ago," Reynolds said.

They've also organized community events, like virtual happy hours and a pitch competition, during which everyone is encouraged to unmute themselves so they can ask questions, laugh, and applaud freely. "Community is everything. We really lean into that," Jones said.

• Ban.do founder Jen Gotch built her multimillion-dollar brand by learning the most valuable business lessons along the way, like how to outsource production and sell your company. 
• Gotch and her cofounder sold their company to Lifeguard Press in 2012, Gotch stayed on as chief creative officer, and the brand expanded to stationery and colorful, feel-good accessories. 
• Her memoir, "The Upside of Being Down", is a candid retelling of her entrepreneurial journey and mental health struggles.
• Click here for more BI Prime content.

When Jen Gotch co-founded her headband business ban.do in 2008, she'd been hopping between jobs as an assistant, stylist, and photographer. But none of that prepared her for running a business quite like diving in head-first. 

Celebrities like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry donned ban.do's silk-flower and jeweled headbands before flower crowns became a mainstay of Coachella style. Then, women's clothing and home decor chain Anthropologie asked the brand to sell the headbands in its stores. It was time for Gotch and her partner Jamie Coulter to kick production into high-gear. 

Gotch told Business Insider that it was an adrenaline-filled moment learning how to outsource their handmade hair accessories. They found a manufacturer in China through a Google search and then read Anthropologie's giant handbook on seller protocol.

"It was mostly just finding someone who was willing to be on our side and do it," she said. "That always encouraged me to keep going. So many people were really going out of their way to help us and that felt indicative that we were on the right track."

The deal didn't make the founders any money, but it was a valuable lesson and put them on the map. "When you get those first-time opportunities, the best thing you could do is just say yes and then figure it out," she said.

After years of hustling, Gotch and Coulter parted ways and sold their six-figure company to Lifeguard Press in 2012. Gotch remained at the helm as chief creative officer and the brand expanded to stationery and feel-good accessories. She recently released her memoir, "The Upside of Being Down", which is a candid retelling of her dealing with mental health challenges such as bipolar, anxiety, and ADD while creating a multimillion-dollar lifestyle brand.

Gotch is not afraid to admit her mistakes and sees them as learning experiences. Along with tips from her book, she told Business Insider her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.

MUST READ: How to sell your startup in 2020 for a boatload of cash, from founders who sold their companies for billions

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Your company does not have to be high-growth to be successful

Gotch makes it clear that ban.do isn't a billion-dollar company, and that success can come at a slow and steady pace. She tells entrepreneurs that they can decide whether they want to pursue growth or sustainability. 

"These days, the way businesses are in the spotlight — especially female-run companies — the question is always 'How big can you get?'" Gotch writes in her book. "And that's really, really hard, especially since most businesses do not end up with all the early employees getting a Porsche and a new house." (She rents her home and drives a Volkswagen.)

After a few years growing their brand together, Coulter left to move to Texas and the cofounders knew they needed to sell their company to sustain it. Gotch met with a few buyers who weren't the right fit, before finding Todd and Kim Ferrier, the owners of Lifeguard Press. 

The difference between the Ferriers and other prospective buyers came down to their style — in both fashion and business. Though their laid-back clothes may not immediately indicate massive business success, to Gotch it was a sign of how they would run her company. "There was an immediate feeling of trust and that they weren't coming in to disrupt. They were really coming into elevate what we were doing," she told Business Insider. 

Since Lifeguard Press bought ban.do, the brand has become a multimillion-dollar company and sells products in over 3,000 stores in the US and internationally.

The work is never done, so it pays to set boundaries

Gotch warns founders that the to-do lists will never end. Running a business is an all-consuming job that requires focus, and sometimes comes at a cost. In the early years, other parts of her life, like paying her mortgage and tending to her marriage, took a backseat to the passion she had for her business. 

Gotch said the business was always profitable, but she and Coulter only began to pay themselves a $1,000-a-month salary after a couple of years. "You may not be able to check all those boxes all at once," she said. 

In her book she writes that though it takes an almost-unhealthy commitment to start a successful business, it doesn't have to stay that way forever. In fact, she told Business Insider that the one thing she wished she'd done earlier was create boundaries around when she would stop working each day. "The work is always going to be there," she said. 

Everything will not fall apart if you stop grinding for a moment

Founders often glorify the hustle and sweat equity as a badge of honor in the startup world. But Gotch learned the hard way that being busy does not always equal success. 

For years, she worked non-stop and drove herself into burnout because of it. But when she learned to take a step back, she was able to see that her life was more than the company she founded. In her book she writes, "If your company is destined to be successful, you will still be successful even if you carve out time for your personal life." 

She told Business Insider that it's important to schedule in fun so that work doesn't swallow you whole. "I really didn't see a difference in my performance and productivity when I slowed down and stopped working myself into the ground. In fact, I think my brain is healthier," she said.

• Todd McKinnon quit his lucrative Silicon Valley job at Salesforce to start his own business during the Great Recession. 
• His tech startup, Okta, is now a $14 billion company. 
• McKinnon took six essential steps to launch his business that could also help other entrepreneurs find success. 
• He explained how to find business opportunities that would weather economic downturns and encouraged entrepreneurs to get comfortable with uncertainty.
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When Todd McKinnon decided to quit his lucrative Silicon Valley job at Salesforce to start his own business, he first had to give the pitch of a lifetime — to his wife. So he created a PowerPoint to convince her that starting a tech company during the Great Recession was a good idea.

His main argument was software giants like Microsoft and Oracle were started during recessions. 

"There could be advantages to starting a company now. We know we're not going to have a product for a couple of years anyways," he told his wife.

Luckily, his wife was supportive, and in 2009, McKinnon founded Okta, an identity-management service that has since grown into a $14 billion company. The company has 7,400 customers and is making more than $150 million in revenue per quarter, he told Business Insider.

While not all startups can match his billion-dollar success, McKinnon said there were several strategies in his business plan that could help other entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

Here are the six steps that are essential to launching a successful company, according to McKinnon.

1. Identify a macro trend and use timing to your advantage

Though McKinnon started Okta during a recession, he didn't base his decision on the economy. Instead, he noticed many companies moving into cloud computing — Google was starting business applications, and Amazon launched Amazon Web Services. "I saw the big trend that would lead to a number of potential changes and a number of different products," he said. 

Recognizing a "macro trend" is the first step in developing a viable business, McKinnon said. Using this trend, you can identify a product or service that will be successful. "Make sure there's some big macro trend that you're on the right side of," he said. 

McKinnon said starting Okta in 2009 was a blessing. "It was a little harder to raise venture capital, but it was a little bit easier to hire people," he said. It also gave the company some time to get a product to market as the economy picked up again.

2. Ensure your business doesn't rely on economic stability

In 2020, recession is a top concern for CEOs, according to a recent survey by The Conference Board. Some experts say the US economy is headed for a brief recession that will start in spring 2020 and last for about two quarters.

Your business idea should be able to weather the ebbs and flows of the economy. During a downturn, leaders will stress the bottom line, and investors will be looking for a nimble vision that can outlast the lean times.

That's why McKinnon said a business' success is the difference between a "nice-to-have vitamin" and a "mission-critical medicine." A product or service that doesn't fulfill a dire market need will quickly find itself sidelined during an economic lull.

"It was pretty clear in our minds that cloud was going to be a big part of the future," he said. "It was not very likely that cloud would hit a wall and be a hype thing that didn't take off."

If your product or service meets that prerequisite, an economic downturn isn't necessarily a bad thing. "It's going to take time to build this business," he said. As it happened with Okta, a slow economy could give you time to develop your product and hire a team. 

Many businesses fail during a downturn because investment markets freeze up, McKinnon said. It's important to be conservative with your money so you don't burn out before you reach profitability. During Okta's first few years, his team made sure the business was efficient and could cut costs without having to raise more money. "We didn't want to be at the mercy of the investors or relying on raising more money to survive. That's where people really get in trouble," he said.

3. Validate your idea with feedback

The next phase of building your business is developing the product or service from the macro trend you've identified. This is one of the hardest parts of building a business and requires feedback from multiple stakeholders, McKinnon said. "Feedback and having a product or a prototype to test and talk to customers about is really important."

In Okta's early stages, McKinnon shared a 15-page business plan with a few friends in venture capital to help him improve his vision. "It's really hard to just think of it in a vacuum and think, what will someone buy or not buy?" he said. 

Their feedback wasn't entirely positive, but he said it was an important step in developing thick skin — which you'll need whether you're a startup founder pitching venture capitalists or a CEO leading a company of 2,000 employees. 

4. Communicate expectations with your family 

If you're married, have children, or have dependents who rely on your income, they are important stakeholders in your business decisions. They may not hold monetary equity, but your success will certainly affect their livelihood, so it's important to communicate how your business will affect them. 

When McKinnon pitched his business idea to his wife, their daughter was 6 months old. He outlined every practical concern, including how his salary would work, how they would manage health insurance, and how they would handle major expenses. He told her both the negative and the positive feedback he received from investors, where he'd get financing, and four potential outcomes. 

5. Get comfortable with uncertainty

McKinnon said one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is getting carried away with things that aren't in their control, like the highs and lows of the stock market.

While at Salesforce, McKinnon grew accustomed to the certainty of working for a big company — and the paycheck, success, and stability that came with it. So when he started Okta, embracing uncertainty was one of his biggest lessons. 

"No one can tell you if it's going to work. The best venture capitalists in the world, the best industry experts, your friends, your family, your coworkers, they can't tell if it's going to work. No one knows. So you have to get comfortable with not knowing that," he said.

Uncertainty can prevent people from quitting their jobs to start a business in the first place. But McKinnon encourages entrepreneurs to go all in, even if the economy scares them. And if your idea is big enough to get venture backing, it's not a side hustle.

"A lot of these great big ideas with broad reach and scale, there's a number of people that go after them. So it's important to be in with as much skin in the game as soon as possible," he said. 

6. Create a timeline for milestones

Setting personal and business milestones also helped McKinnon with the uncertainty of starting a business. His goals kept him motivated and focused his team on incremental wins. For example, he told his wife he would find a new job or return to Salesforce if he couldn't secure venture financing within six months.

"It gives everyone that you're trying to build trust with, whether it's your wife, or whether it's your team, or whether it's customers — it gives everyone an anchor point that you're making progress," he said. 

Even when one year wasn't going well, he set a small goal for his team to get five customers live and deployed. "[It] seemed small at the time, but it felt like we could take away a little uncertainty if we just get there," he said. 

Transparent communication is essential for rallying a team behind your business. McKinnon said your team would grow skeptical of your leadership if you were missing your targets and you didn't communicate or revise your goals. "The more you can share there and get the team buying into the milestones, the better," he said.

SEE ALSO: The first-time founder's ultimate guide to pitching a VC and getting funding in 2020

DON'T MISS: How to sell your startup in 2020 for a boatload of cash, from founders who sold their companies for billions

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• Access to technology, and specifically coding, could be a great leveler in society.
• Gender and racial inequalities have impacted access to STEM, but one founder who grew up in a deprived area has argued that improved access could bridge the gap.
• "Coding is the social equalizer and it's what is going to lift many underprivileged children by removing degree requirements for jobs," Noa Khamallah told Business Insider in an interview. "Technology brings opportunity and it widens your world."
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The fastest-growing companies in the world are tech firms and startups supported by armies of coders and engineers, and yet a digital skills gap remains. In Europe alone, there was an estimated shortage of around 756,000 ICT professionals this year, according to the European Commission. 

One of the key reasons for this has been a lack of focus on technology, and specifically coding, in schools. The issue is compounded by issues of inequality of race and gender when it comes to accessing technology jobs.

Mar Hicks, the author of Programmed Inequality, posits that the UK lost its edge in computing skills following the Second World War because the country pushed women out of the computer science workforce. Within 30 years, all advantages the nation had after it broke Nazi codes at Bletchley Park had diminished because of a systematic removal of capable people, he argued.

Today, STEM subjects at university are still overwhelmingly taken by men. Female graduates from STEM courses from UK universities last year represented 26% of the intake, and only 15% of computer science graduates were women. 

Efforts have been made to counter this issue. Former US President Barack Obama outlined plans for all students to have computer science opportunities in his 2016 State of the Union address, while the nonprofit Girls Who Code has served an estimated 185,000 girls since 2012, 50% of whom are from underrepresented groups. Their college-aged alumni major in computer science-related fields at 15 to 16 times the national rate.

Improvement is important, but more can be done according to Noa Khamallah, also known as K-Noa, cofounder of scooter charging startup Charge and a former executive at Lime and Voi. Khamallah grew up in a poor region in northern France and worked in the coffee industry for a number of years before moving into scooters and mobility tech.

"It's easy to acknowledge that we live in a highly digitized society but we need a structural transformation to encourage the underprivileged to get these skills," he told Business Insider in an interview. "It's possible that we might end up with a shortage of tech skills in the future despite a massive source of wealth right in front of us."

In 1995, 37% of computer scientists were women, whereas today, it's only 24%, according to Girls Who Code. In Belgium initiatives exist to help alleviate both the digital skills gap and high youth unemployment, through BeCode which provides tech training to young people free of charge. 

Khamallah advocates governments setting aside more money to put towards providing computers in schools. Similarly, institutions can partner with nonprofits and organizations with greater expertise to help widen access. 

"Coding is the social equalizer and it's what is going to lift many underprivileged children by removing degree requirements for jobs," Khamallah added. "Technology brings opportunity and it widens your world."

SEE ALSO: The coronavirus lockdown has made mental health startups more important than ever, according to founders and investors. Here's why the sector is exploding.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence

• The coronavirus pandemic has shifted the way fashion and beauty brands produce, sell, and market their products.  
• Business Insider asked founders how their companies have pivoted in response to the pandemic and how their industries will change as a result. 
• Rebecca Minkoff's Female Founder Collective organized a Support Your Ladies directory of women-owned businesses in partnership with Ladies Get Paid.
• Michael Preysman, founder and CEO of Everlane, said there's a new sense of urgency to create a more sustainable supply chain.
• Click here for more BI Prime content. 

Coronavirus has pushed every industry to face the present and future simultaneously with caution, resilience, and innovation. 

This is especially true for the beauty and fashion industry, which is perhaps one of the most accustomed to change, as it adapts to new trends and consumer behaviors on a monthly, if not daily, basis. The pandemic is yet another shift that will define what we wear, how we shop, and whose style we emulate for years to come. 

Retail, for example, has been shifting online for more than a decade, but quarantine put ecommerce brands in the fast lane since they are instantly accessible to at-home shoppers. 

"Now, brands are required to innovate at an accelerated pace in order to survive," Manish Chandra, CEO and cofounder of Poshmark, told Business Insider. 

We asked founders in beauty and fashion how their companies have pivoted in response to the pandemic and how their industries — and the world — will change as a result. 

Below are their responses as told to Business Insider.

SEE ALSO: Poshmark CEO Manish Chandra on the future of 'solopreneurs'

MUST READ: Tough truths about starting a business, from ban.do founder Jen Gotch

Rebecca Minkoff, founder of fashion label Rebecca Minkoff, said a newfound degree of transparency is building strength and power

When I first launched Rebecca Minkoff, I wanted to design collections that made women feel strong and powerful. We'd help you celebrate your milestone moments. These past few weeks have really challenged that initial intention and mission of mine. I've had to, like so many others in retail, pivot my business on a dime. Truth be told, I find it hard sometimes to feel strong and powerful, and those celebratory moments can feel fewer and farther between lately. 

My industry – our society – is faced with so much uncertainty. I take a little comfort, though, in what this ordeal has taught me, and the hidden superpowers I've seen emerge among networks, businesses, consumers, and frankly, within myself and my team. Never before have we embraced this degree of transparency or kind of deep connection with one another. 'How are you feeling? What can we do to help you now?'

The Support Your Ladies directory of women-owned businesses – which my network, Female Founder Collective, launched with Ladies Get Paid – came together in a matter of weeks, for example. That's pretty badass, and it was borne out of a real place of vulnerability and connection to our fellow female small businesses owners. I hope the world remembers that there is strength and power in these moments, too. They may look a little different to us, but they're still something to celebrate — as friends, as parents, as a community, and as business leaders.

Michael Preysman, founder and CEO of clothing brand Everlane, said there's a new sense of urgency to create a more sustainable supply chain

This pandemic forced all of us to confront the challenges of the world and reflect on how connected we are as a global community. With this comes a responsibility as an individual and a business to drive change and create positive impact for both people and the planet.

We now have even more of a sense of urgency to create a more sustainable supply chain using the innovations already at our disposal: renewable energy, regenerative agriculture and recycled materials. These are seemingly small yet important steps in creating cumulative change for a better way of operating our business.

As we make plans for the long road ahead, those plans must continue to offer true value to our customers without sacrificing our values of protecting the planet.

Katia Beauchamp, cofounder and CEO of beauty subscription Birchbox, said 'digital' will take on a new meaning

I've always been a believer that bringing our whole selves to work is an asset to productivity. This experience has added depth to what it means; asking about each other's health and the well being of families, meeting our team's families, pet families, and literally inviting each other into our homes (albeit virtually) has added depth that would take months or years to create. This experience will change how we relate and collaborate because it is bringing down the walls and inviting the whole person to the work at hand. 

The in-person experience will be altered permanently, and will likely have a positive impact on the penetration of e-commerce and foundational beauty. (i.e. skincare, supplements, wellness) With that, 'digital' is going to take on an entirely new meaning. Even digitally native brands will have to challenge their own status quos to adapt to this new normal. The key will be finding new ways to create real and authentic connections knowing that the entire industry is shifting online.

We are learning what we are capable of when we are deeply motivated to protect each other. There is an obvious opportunity to leverage the experience and apply this level of commitment to education, social justice, the environment — effectively putting our energy and talent toward building the world we want to live in.

Manish Chandra, founder and CEO of resale shopping app Poshmark, said retail will look very different on the other side of the pandemic

It's an unprecedented time for businesses of all kinds and few are immune to the impact that COVID-19 has had on our society and economy.

And yet, it has been wonderful to not only see how the Poshmark team has responded, continuing to serve our community and keeping the business running strong, but also see Poshmark's community in the US and Canada adapting to this new normal — finding creative ways to come together, list new inventory, and run businesses on the platform.

We built Poshmark from the ground up specifically to enable millions of people to sell from home, ship from home, shop from home, and receive their purchases at home. Our peer-to-peer model and extensive suite of seller tools makes it easy for anyone to earn extra income, while our highly distributed logistics and inventory network means that our model is more resilient to disruptive world forces than others might be. Because of this foundation, Poshmark has been able to continue to operate without extensive changes. Our innate architecture supports this new way of life and I believe the kind of personalized and immersive retail experience fostered on our platform will be the "new normal" going forward.

Pre-COVID-19, the retail industry was already undergoing significant changes as companies worked to meet consumer demands for genuine human connections and personalized online shopping experiences. And now, brands are required to innovate at an accelerated pace in order to survive.

Retail will look very different on the other side of this. As consumers continue to turn to platforms that prioritize financial and environmental sustainability, resale will be at the forefront. The intergenerational movement that resale has ignited is fueling the acceleration of social commerce at scale, delivering on consumers' need for connections and a newly awakened sense of community.

If one thing is true, this pandemic has exacerbated people's need and desire for genuine connection. While nothing can replace the feeling of a hug from a beloved family or friend, we're all looking to feel seen, heard, and supported, and our hope is that now more than ever, Poshmark can be a destination where anyone from anywhere can find this support from a vibrant and inclusive community.

Kendra Scott, founder of jewelry brand Kendra Scott, shifted the business to virtual try-on experiences

Since I started this company, being here for our customer has always come first. I knew that if we created an emotional connection with our customer, the transaction would naturally follow. We're seeing that connection pay off right now, and are continuing to meet our community where they are. 

In the midst of these challenging times, we as a business are learning to pivot quickly, think outside the box, and fast-track innovative programs that will help our customers and communities most. We're finding more ways than ever to engage with our Kendra Scott customer, whether through new e-commerce experiences like Virtual Try-On to meet those shopping from home, or safely rolling out curbside pick-up to re-connect with our brick-and-mortar customers. 

And while philanthropy has always been at the core of who we are, it is more important now than ever, and we are continuing our commitment to giving back through virtual events, raising funds for Feeding America to serve 2.1 million meals, and making masks for frontline workers in our local communities. 

The customer experience and our heart for our community have always been important at Kendra Scott. In our world today that takes on a whole new meaning, reinforcing my belief that we are so much stronger when we stand together. 

• Arlan Hamilton founded venture capital fund Backstage Capital in 2015. Since then, the company has invested over $5 million in 100 companies.
• Backstage Capital looks for startups lead by those who are underrepresented in tech — women, LGBTQ+, and people of color.
• Before entering Silicon Valley, Hamilton worked as a tour manager for artists like Jason Derulo and Toni Braxton.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

Following is a transcript of the video.

Arlan Hamilton: If you were anything but a straight, white man you were honestly not even getting into the room.

I'm Arlan Hamilton, and I'm the founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital.

Backstage Capital has invested $5 million in 100 companies

Backstage Capital is a boutique venture fund that invests in underrepresented founders, and that means that we put $25,000 to $100,000 to work into companies that are startups, mostly tech enabled, across the country. We are different in that we invest in the underrepresented and the underestimated, whereas in most of venture capital, less than 10% of all venture capital funding goes to the very people that we invest in.

Being underrepresented myself has helped me relate to the founders that I'm investing in. It helps me understand part of their journey, you can't understand them all, but as a woman, as a person of color, as an LGBT person, it really helps relate to the founder and to know the different pain points, and the different resources that they may need that's slightly different than what someone else might need.

On the road to entrepreneurship

I grew up in Dallas, Texas with my mom and my brother, Alfred, my mother, Earline. I didn't go to college. I'm a very curious person and I tend to try to learn as much as I can from all sources. It just didn't fit for me, and so I went out and I sought mentorship and other resources in different ways. The life experience that I got and the way that I had to hack my way through things has given me an edge.

When I was a kid I wanted to work in live music as someone on a tour, and actually ended up doing that for quite a long time as an adult. But I never wanted to be a venture capitalist. When I was around 21, I found this really cool Norwegian pop-punk band online. And I wanted to see them play live, so I got in touch with them and asked them if I could book a tour for them so I could see them play. So I booked a tour for them around the country, became their tour manager. A lot happened in between. I ended up taking that information, that knowledge and experience, and working on arena-sized tours for people like Jason Derulo and Toni Braxton.

From the music industry to Silicon Valley

I had been working on these great tours, and I was having the time of my life. It's not a very stable career though, so I was looking at other types of jobs. I was still on the road. I was getting really great at my job I think. And I realized I had been an entrepreneur my whole life, and so the thought crossed my mind about starting my own company, starting my own tech company. And once I did more research about how that worked, I wanted to go all in. But there was not really anyone there for me to reach out to who could understand me as a person, and if they were there I just couldn't find them. That's when I learned that if you were anything but a straight, white man you were honestly not even getting into the room.

Getting the first "yes"

A few years ago I didn't know what a venture capitalist was, but once I learned more about it and understood that the type of capital that venture capitalists put into companies was used for innovation. I knew that the women and people of color and LGBT founders that I knew, and those that I had seen needed to be part of this, and they were being left out at the time. And so it made all the sense in the world to me that that capital needed to go to them, and over time I told people, I wrote about it, I knocked on doors, but no one was really listening to me. So I decided to start a fund on my own and bring to light a lot of these companies that had already been there, had already been gaining traction, but just needed a little bit more of a push when it came to capital.

When I was just starting I had no money, I had no personal money. I was also like really broke and half of the time that I was raising for the first three years, I didn't have a place to live. So I was like bouncing around from different family member's couches, or friend's couches. In some cases less than that. And so my average week would be focusing on that, making sure I was okay, and the other part would be reaching out to a countless number of investors in Silicon Valley that I, and elsewhere, that I would research and learn about, and then try to talk to them on an individual basis.

It took about three years of constantly asking and going around and talking to people, mostly full time, before I got my first "yes." So it took three years to get the first $25,000.

Looking ahead

In five to 10 years I hope that Backstage Capital is obsolete because we are no longer needed. And that people of color and women are not considered underrepresented in tech. I personally hope that I'm still working with founders at the earliest stages. That's where I get most of my energy from and where I'm most excited. And that hopefully I've had some impact.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published in May 2019.

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• Of all the great business books, the ones written by men tend to get a lot of attention, but many other important perspectives are out there.
• Business Insider asked female founders and business leaders for books — written by women — that they recommend on leadership, entrepreneurship, and running a company.
• In addition to books on traditional business strategy, many women pointed us to books about psychology, feminism, and mental health.
• Click here for more BI Prime content.

The business books that land on must-read lists year after year, heavily recommended by CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs, usually have one thing in common: they're written by men. Of the 49 books on these lists from CNBC, Inc., and even Business Insider, you'll count just 10 books that have female authors. 

So Business Insider asked female founders and business leaders what books they recommend on leadership, entrepreneurship, and running a company. There was only guideline: at least one woman must be an author of the book.  

What we found is that these female entrepreneurs and executives have a broader understanding of what constitutes business advice than traditional topics such as funding, pitches, capital, scaling, business plans, and board meetings.

Traditional business strategy was still on the list, but many leaders also pointed us to books about psychology, feminism, and mental health. Best-sellers from leading ladies like Michelle Obama and Sheryl Sandberg made the list as well as books from authors Jessica Joines and Kim Scott. The resulting list reflects a step forward in the ever-evolving story of female entrepreneurialism, and how women have different experiences and insights to share, adding up to a different leadership style.

As Stephanie Nadi Olson, the founder of We Are Rosie, put it, "Women like me are much more drawn to books written by women leaders and founders simply because women lead from intuition and compassion," she told Business Insider. "It's less about competition for us, and more about how we can build and manifest our visions into a business that serves humanity."

Do you have a book recommendation to add? Please email this reporter at jortakales@businessinsider with your suggestion and tell us why it's an important read. 

Here are 15 business and leadership books written by women.

SEE ALSO: 15 business books successful entrepreneurs read religiously — and that they'd recommend to every first-time founder in 2020

'Dare to Believe,' by Jessica Joines

Recommended by:Stephanie Nadi Olson, founder of marketing network We Are Rosie

"Jessica's book focuses on clearing out self-limiting beliefs that can keep women from achieving their full potential in life and business," Nadi Olson told Business Insider. 

She explained that in order for women to succeed in business and chart their own courses, we must first reprogram the collective female psyche from telling ourselves we're not good enough or don't belong in a room.  

"These are storylines that are unique to women and they must be addressed in order for women in business to make an impact that is both unique and long-lasting on business," she said. 

Find it here »

'Shakti Leadership,' by Nilima Bhat and Raj Sisodia

Recommended by:Stephanie Nadi Olson, founder of marketing network We Are Rosie

"[The book] talks about the need for a balance of masculine, feminine, young, and old energy in business," Nadi Olson said. She said many of the challenges with business today, from bro culture to discrimination, come from unchecked masculine energy.

"The pendulum doesn't need to swing to feminine energy only, but there should be a balance. This perspective is so important in business today and no one seems to be talking about it," she said. 

Find it here »

'Women Who Run with Wolves,' by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Recommended by:Daina Trout, CEO of Health-Ade Kombucha

Trout told Business Insider that the entrepreneurial journey can be lonely, especially for females who often have to deal with more obstacles than their male counterparts do. "That book is all about shedding the stuff that doesn't serve you anymore. It specifically speaks to the layers or baggage that women tend to bring with them," she said. 

"It's more of a book around how to build confidence. At least it was for me."

Find it here »

'Radical Candor,' by Kim Scott

Recommended by:Jaclyn Johnson, founder and CEO of Create & Cultivate

"Radical Candor" explains how women can balance being both kind and tough, overcoming being labeled as mean when we're in a position of power. "Especially as a female leader, that's a stigma we have to deal with a lot," Johnson told Business Insider. 

Find it here »

'Lean In,' by Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell

Recommended by:Karson Humiston, founder and CEO of Vangst

Humiston said Sheryl Sandberg's book is similar to "Radical Candor," which she also recommended. "It does a good job of helping manage having empathy, and coming from a place of compassion when managing, but being very clear and being direct in a way that comes across as caring about the individual you're managing and trying to help grow as an employee," she told Business Insider. 

Find it here »

'It's Not Always Depression,' by Hilary Jacobs Hendel

Recommended by: Narie Foster, cofounder and advisor of M.M. LaFleur

Foster spoke on a panel at a LMHQ women's event and told the audience she recommended leaders and entrepreneurs read "It's Not Always Depression," to learn to lead from your core emotions and how they are different from surface inhibitory emotions. 

"I believe applying that to something like making a decision as founder and understanding, is this founder's gut or is this an insecurity, which is why I'm making this decision," she said. 

Find it here »

'Becoming,' by Michelle Obama

Recommended by: Marie Berry, founder of Kara

Berry also spoke on a panel at a LMHQ women's event and highly recommended Michelle Obama's memoir. "It was such an amazing book in terms of going deeper into [her] personality and a lot of the weaknesses, woven by [her] vulnerable side," she said.  

Find it here »

'Self Made,' by Nely Galan

Recommended by: Nathalie Molina Niño, CEO of BRAVA Investments

Molina Niño told Business Insider that "Self Made" is a great place for women to start if they aren't sure whether they identify as an entrepreneur. "Nely also goes deep into the psychology of what holds us back and also into personal finance in a way that I've never seen done well, especially for immigrants and women of color," she said. 

Find it here »

'The Creative Habit,' by Twyla Tharp

Recommended by: Nathalie Molina Niño, CEO of BRAVA Investments

Molina Niño also recommended "The Creative Habit" because "entrepreneurship, at the end of the day, is all about exercising our creative muscles every day."

Find it here »

'The Likeability Trap,' by Alicia Menendez

Recommended by: Nathalie Molina Niño, CEO of BRAVA Investments

"The Likeability Trap," is yet another book Molina Niño recommended. "It is an amazing roadmap for getting out of the double-bind that holds women back from taking what's rightfully ours," she told Business Insider.

Find it here »

'When Things Fall Apart,' by Pema Chodron

Recommended by: Nathalie Molina Niño, CEO of BRAVA Investments

Molina Niño said "When Things Fall Apart" has helped her when she has failed, and that it continues to add value to her work as an entrepreneur. The book was written by American Tibetan Buddhist Pema Chodron. 

"I'm especially proud to highlight her work right now, as she recently stepped down from the organization that she helped build, in protest to their support of a known predator and in solidarity with victims. She doesn't just deliver good ideas, she lives her values, even when it's difficult and alienating. That's leadership," she said. 

Find it here »

'The Memo,' by Minda Harts

Recommended by: Nathalie Molina Niño, CEO of BRAVA Investments

A final recommendation from Molina Niño is "The Memo" by Minda Harts. "I think it should be required reading for the women starting more businesses than anyone else in this country, women of color."

Find it here »

'The Execution Factor,' by Kim Perell

Recommended by: Tiara Zolnierz, chief business development officer of funding platform EnrichHer

"The premise of the book talks about every day taking correlating actions in order to take your business to the next level, and really be focused on execution," Zolnierz told Business Insider.

Find it here »

'The Blue Ocean Strategy,' by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne

Recommended by:Michelle Cordeiro Grant, founder and CEO of LIVELY

"It really expanded my mind around how you don't have to create a category but you can just shift the audience of a category," Cordeiro Grant told Business Insider. 

Find it here »

'The Moment of Lift,' by Melinda Gates

Recommended by: Ciara Dilley, vice president of transform brands and portfolio innovation at PepsiCo

Dilley told Business Insider that Melinda Gates' book was the most inspiring book she'd read in a very long time. "She is such a humble woman who really never sought the public spotlight, but she feels so passionately about how she wants to empower women. She says it was incumbent on her to raise her voice, find her path, and bring women along with her, and support women particularly in the developing world," she said. 

"It's so beautifully written and so inspiring, for anyone who supports women in any walk of life."

Find it here »

• Lulu Cordero is the founder and CEO of Bomba Curls, a hair care brand she started out of her kitchen 10 years ago after formulating a natural remedy for her receding hairline. 
• She recently took her side hustle full-time and saw 123% revenue growth last quarter. 
• Cordero explained how she built her company from $5,000 in savings and how she finds the right influencers to promote her all-natural products. 
• Click here for more BI Prime content.

When Lulu Cordero finally embraced her naturally curly hair after years of relaxing it, she didn't realize she had a brilliant business idea in her roots. What started as a homemade remedy, turned into a hair care brand to help thousands of women embrace their curls. 

Cordero is the founder and CEO of Bomba Curls, a hair care brand she started out of her kitchen 10 years ago and took full-time in September 2019. Last quarter, the company saw 123% growth in revenue and amassed a restock waitlist of 2,000 people. 

It all started when people noticed her hairline was receding, a condition called traction alopecia which resulted from pulling her hair up in tight buns. Her mother suggested using coffee to grow her hair back, a common ingredient in Dominican home remedies. "We have our own little unique ways of taking care of our hair and using a lot of those natural, tropical ingredients like coffee and cinnamon to promote growth," Cordero said. 

At the time, she was a pre-med student, so her chemistry and biochemistry background helped her develop a winning formula. Everyone noticed her hair growing back more lush than ever and soon friends and family requested their own bottles of her blend, which she called Forbidden Oil.

Here's how she turned her at-home side hustle into a beauty brand with thousands waiting to get their hands on her natural products. 

From side hustle to all-natural hair care brand

Cordero's father taught her how to be an entrepreneur. When her Dominican family immigrated to the US, her father's college degree wasn't valid in their new homeland and he didn't speak English fluently. He wanted to start a private security business, so Cordero stepped in to help him build his American dream. 

"Working with him and seeing all that it genuinely takes to build something from zero, from the bottom up, it takes so much work. It takes so much sacrifice. It takes so many sleepless nights," she said. 

If a security guard didn't show up to his post at two in the morning and no one else was available, her father put on his uniform and covered the shift. 

Sleepless nights also fueled the side hustle Cordero ran from her kitchen for 10 years, whipping up the perfect formula and bottling it with handmade labels into the late hours of the night. "At night, I wouldn't sleep," she said. 

The first year, she made about $500 of product on average per month. That eventually grew to about 100 bottles a month. She saved up little by little, until she had $5,000 to get a manufacturer and launched Bomba Curls full-time in September 2019.

Though she stopped working for her father to focus on her brand, the experience prepared her for the challenges of carving out her own path. "Making something out of nothing and to see your vision come to life, there's no feeling that compares to that," she said. 

Her newest product, the Forbidden Hair Mask, sold out in a month with 1,500 units and had a restock waitlist of 2,000 customers. Cordero wasn't expecting such a strong response but said it represents a desire customers have to celebrate and embrace their curly hair. 

"It felt like a breath of fresh air for them," she said. "The stigma that's associated with natural, curly, kinky hair, especially as an Afro-Latina, there is a stigma associated with embracing your blackness and saying that's beautiful."

Overcoming packaging shortages during the pandemic

Cordero has seen a peak in demand for her products during the pandemic, as at-home self-care has gained popularity in recent months. "They want to try self care and give themselves the whole DIY at-home salon treatment," she said. 

In February, just before the coronavirus outbreak hit the US, Cordero struggled to get enough packaging. Manufacturers' supplies of plastic bottles quickly depleted as more companies started making hand sanitizer. "Prior to all of this, typically you would run into a shortage of oil or shortage of raw material," she said. 

She knew some business owners who were waiting 17 weeks to get replenishment, so she placed orders for as many bottles as she could with five different factories. It taught her to be prepared for the unexpected by regularly stocking up on all of her supplies. "That will not happen to me again," she said. "We will say we will stay ready."

Influencer marketing: Building a network of healthy-hair ambassadors 

Authenticity is important to her brand marketing and messaging to resonate with customers. "Consumers are really good at picking up BS," she said. "We made sure to market in a way that keeps it real and speaks to the culture."

Keeping it real means all natural ingredients and influencers who promote a healthy lifestyle. Beyond that, an influencer who represents the brand should have curly hair and be able to educate their followers on natural hair care, a topic Cordero is not only passionate about but has made the ethos of her business. She asks "would their voice sound good in our choir?" before sending an email or DM to potential candidates. 

Bomba Curls products do not contain parabens or ingredients that have been linked to cancer — ingredients that are common in the hair-care industry. "A lot of the products that are marketed towards women of color in particular are full of a lot of harmful chemicals," she said. 

Cordero sees a post-pandemic shift in consumers becoming more conscious of what they are putting into and onto their bodies. "My hope is that in general we see a shift within the beauty industry towards creating safer, cleaner, greener, healthier products for our customers," she said.

MUST READ: Founders of Rebecca Minkoff, Everlane, Birchbox, and Poshmark reveal how they've adapted during the pandemic and how fashion and beauty will never be the same

SEE ALSO: A Hollywood producer for companies like Amazon and Netflix explains how to make a video series when no one can meet in person

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