Significant Career Lesson From a Co-Founder at SolarGroup and FleekSleek
Michael, Co-Founder at SolarGroup & FleekSleek, emphasizes that "ideas do not matter unless you have execution," highlighting the importance of testing ideas, even if they fail, because everyone has "an unknown expiration date". Michael's career has shown them that the ability "to see what sticks and what doesn't stick" is invaluable, encouraging others to simply try their ideas and learn from the outcomes.
Entrepreneurship, Execution, Resilience, Adaptability, Real-World Examples
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Michael Gombert
Co-Founder
SolarGroup & FleekSleek
Arizona State University (ASU) - W. P. Carey
Business Management & Admin
Technology, Advertising, Communications & Marketing
Communication and Marketing
Worked 20+ Hours in School, Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. Ideas are not enough; execution is crucial for success in entrepreneurship.
2. It's important to test ideas quickly and be willing to fail, as you have a limited time to experiment.
3. The ability to adapt and recognize what works and what doesn't is a key lesson learned from launching multiple companies.
Transcript
What is one lesson that you have learned that has proven significant in your career?
Ideas don't matter unless you have execution. In my career, there are entrepreneurs and then there are people who want to do something but have a great idea.
I've had this idea for three years, but why haven't I done it? At least test it out. You're here for a very small amount of time, and everyone has an unknown expiration date.
So why not have the idea, figure out a plan, and just execute it? It might not work, it might just fail across the board, but go into it with the significance of just trying it. It's an idea, and if it works out, it works out.
We've had multiple companies that just flopped and didn't work out. We were talking about AI earlier; we had a company that was an AI caller, and three months later, regulations came out saying we can't do AI callers anymore.
We had an idea, we executed on it, and it just didn't work out. The ability to see what sticks and what doesn't stick is something I've learned very significantly in this space. Just take your idea, try it out. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't.