Steve August Coaching’s Post

"It's the mental game of being a Founder that's really surprised me." This week I had a call with a Founder who took advantage of my offer of a free Breakthrough Session for anyone who takes my Founder Type Quiz. Like many Founders, this person has tremendous knowledge and experience in their category. But this is their first go at sitting in the Founder seat. And it's different. Yes. Yes it is. While the Founder life has been painted with a sort of glamour, anybody who's been in the job knows the inside truth is far different. The Founder journey always functions at two levels. There's the brass tacks of just learning how to start, grow and lead a business. This is all about skills, experience, tools and what good looks like at each stage. This is about frantically scrambling to up-level your skills. The second level is the mental game. This is about learning to live with uncertainty and pressure, while feeling ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the business. No matter how senior your role in your previous position, there's nothing that really prepares you for "sitting in the seat." The highs are high and the lows are super low. Navigating the uncertainty and responsibility for success that comes along with the Founder title inevitably trigger our doubts, insecurities, imposter complexes and general anxiety. To succeed you have to always be working at both levels. Because every milestone tends to put in a place where you have to learn more and uplevel. In this week’s Rocket Ship Founder Podcast, I talk about: -Why the Founder seat is so different -3 keys to upleveling skills -3 keys for winning the mental game This 14-minute listen will give you some food for thought for your business. #startups #startupgrowth #founders #entrepreneurship

This week I've been digging in deep with with private clients and the members of my 2X Accelerator community on the biggest leverage point in their businesses. It's not their product or service, though a brilliant product/service is essential. It's not their team, though great teams will move mountains. It's not their brand, marketing or funnels. So if not any of the above, what's the biggest point of leverage for your business? It's your offer. This might sound controversial, but customers don't buy your product/service, your team, or your brand and marketing. They buy your offer. Everything else supports either building trust in your offer (brand/marketing) or delivering the promise of your offer (product/team). The more compelling your offer, the easier it is for customers to to say yes to it. The highest level of yes is, 'when can we get started?!' yes. When you have this kind of energy coming from customers, EVERYTHING in your business gets easier. That energy creates momentum that consistently drives exciting, fun growth. That's what makes it the biggest point of leverage in your business. In this week’s Rocket Ship Founder Podcast, I talk about creating the 'when can we get started?!" yes: - What conditions need to be present to get this type of yes - Why to focus on making your offer 'Stupid' - The two key components of creating a Stupid Offer This 11-minute episode is short, yet chock-full of wisdom. #startups #startupgrowth #founders #entrepreneurship

This week I've been digging in deep with with private clients and the members of my 2X Accelerator community on the biggest leverage point in their businesses. It's not their product or service, though a brilliant product/service is essential. It's not their team, though great teams will move mountains. It's not their brand, marketing or funnels. So if not any of the above, what's the biggest point of leverage for your business? It's your offer. This might sound controversial, but customers don't buy your product/service, your team, or your brand and marketing. They buy your offer. Everything else supports either building trust in your offer (brand/marketing) or delivering the promise of your offer (product/team). The more compelling your offer, the easier it is for customers to to say yes to it. The highest level of yes is, 'when can we get started?!' yes. When you have this kind of energy coming from customers, EVERYTHING in your business gets easier. That energy creates momentum that consistently drives exciting, fun growth. That's what makes it the biggest point of leverage in your business. In this week’s Rocket Ship Founder Podcast, I talk about creating the 'when can we get started?!" yes: - What conditions need to be present to get this type of yes - Why to focus on making your offer 'Stupid' - The two key components of creating a Stupid Offer This 11-minute episode is short, yet chock-full of wisdom. #startups #startupgrowth #founders #entrepreneurship

May 31, 2024 marked an auspicious milestone: 10 years ago I completed the exit of my first startup. I can still remember May 31, 2014 vividly. The feeling of finishing up a million pieces of paperwork and then refreshing the screen on my bank account online until there it was: a big lump of money for all of the work of the past 7 years. I felt a mix of emotions. I felt joy. I felt exhaustion. I felt a sense of disbelief that it actually was going to all go through. But if I'm being honest, the biggest emotion I felt was relief. It had been a huge lift to get the business to that point. With the plentiful resources of our acquiring company and this was the right move for the business and for me. For many Founders, Exits are the holy grail. The literal pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. There's almost a mythology that's built up around them, so I wanted to share three lessons about exits I've learned over the past 10 years. In this week’s Rocket Ship Founder Podcast, I talk about 3 myths and lessons of Exits looking back 10 years later. I'll cover: Lesson 1: Exits can be life changing, but they are rarely "you changing" While a successful exit can bring financial transformation, don't expect one to change or "fix" you. Lesson 2: The Work is actually the Thing Embrace the journey and the daily grind, as the process of building and growing your business is where the action is. Lesson 3: Everything is a series offers Learn to see everything in your business as a series of offers, helping you navigate your journey with more clarity and purpose. Even this podcast is an offer. This 12-minute episode offers perspective from the other side of the Exit! #founders #startups #entrepreneurship #growth #exit

Some words of perspective and wisdom on Exits from this guy....

"In the hierarchy of warm intros, if you can get through an investor's portfolio founder, that is probably the most warm referral that an investor can take". Anthony Joyce-Rivera, founder of Vokamancy and I were talking about EasyVC and shared this great piece with me from Underscore VC's podcast, Startup Secrets, with their General Partner Lily Lyman talking about a golden nugget that took me years of fundraising to learn: Aim for warm intros. Fundraising is about a numbers game and building trust. 1) A Numbers Game: As Lily mentions, you need to build a list of +50 investors that you have to target for your funding round to start. This means you'll get many No's until that "Yes". 2) Build Trust: Investors get 100 cold emails a day from founders telling them they're the next Steve Jobs. YOU need to stand out, and that comes from working on your network. At EasyVC, 1) Our AI builds a short list of investors for you based on your startup description so you don't have to do the heavy lifting ✅, and 2) Every investor in the platform has a list with all their portfolio founders, and their contact info, so you can connect with them and get warm intros✅. Forget about magic wands and intermediaries promising you a VC deal. Work on your network. #fundraising #venturecapital #entrepreneurship #startup

This week in my 2X Accelerator community, one of our Founders posted a 2022 article by Wil Shroter, entitled "What if our startup anxiety never quits?" Ironically, the Founder that posted this is actually killing it right now. They've just created an amazing free training hand raiser offer/lead magnet that is driving loads of the right people to his business. It's only been a few weeks, but the business is already starting to feel the boost. This was a major hump to get over. So you'd think that the anxiety would go away. But if I've learned anything about Founder life over the years, it's that there is always another hump. For myself, with ADHD it tends to be even more intense, since there's usually a dopamine drop as soon as a goal is achieved, which leaves plenty of room for anxiety to creep in. So if there's always another hump, are Founders doomed to always be anxious? Well, yes and no. Founder life is one that embraces uncertainty. We create new things and bring them to the world. We are constantly (and often frantically) learning and upskilling. The reality is that new businesses whether bootstrapped or backed are challenging. But there are ways to minimize the anxiety. In this week’s Rocket Ship Founder Podcast, I'm going to give you three essential techniques that I have found to be helpful: ✅ Mind your health (sleep, diet and exercise) ✅ Reject the Fallacy of Your Future Self (beware, "I'll be happy when....") ✅ Use one simple phrase to get yourself in the moment and out of stress ("In this moment...") This 14-minute episode offers perspective that is on point every Founder. https://lnkd.in/gpdU7WtP #startups #founders #founder #founderjourney #entrepreneurship #stress #anxiety #adhd

Ever wonder what goes through the mind of a successful investor? I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Sorabh Agarwal, founder of AngelBay, on the latest episode of Startup Stories with Sanjana Sorabh brings a wealth of experience with an investment portfolio of 80+ startups, with over 40% already turned profitable! But what truly struck me was his genuine humility and down-to-earth nature. I mean, how often do we encounter someone with such remarkable talent, yet so humble? Here's why you won't want to miss this episode: 🔍 Investor's Lens: Unlock the mindset of a seasoned investor and learn his unique thesis for spotting promising startups – a must-listen for founders seeking funding! 💡 Demystifying Finance: Worried about valuation and dilution? Sorabh breaks down these complex concepts in a way that's easy to understand. 🌐 Startup Ecosystem Insights: Dive deep into the current startup landscape, gaining invaluable knowledge for your entrepreneurial journey or simply to stay ahead of the curve. Ready to gain a fresh perspective on investments and finance? Don't miss out on this episode! 🎧✨ ➡️ Link in comments! #StartupStories #InvestmentInsights #EntrepreneurialJourney #Podcast #valuations #fundraising #Finance #entrepreneurship

How a Founder's Oura Ring Confirmed Product market fit. This week I was having a session with one of my private clients. I've been working with this Founder for a couple of years since their original Seed funding. It's been a long journey to product market fit, with many a twist and turn. But in this session, this Founder reported that the signals were finally turning green: - Customers signing deals - Partners eager to integrate their offering to keep their own customers - A pipeline that is starting to fill nicely But the clincher was when he said, "my Oura ring alerted me that my heart rate variability (a stress indicator) has go way down over the past couple of months." There is was. Quantified proof that he'd cracked it. There's something that happens when you start getting "when can we start?" yeses. There's a confidence that emerges when you start feeling like it's not luck and you can replicate it. Stress goes way down and things start getting fun. In this week’s Rocket Ship Founder Podcast, I talk about: - Why it can be a long and winding journey to product market fit and reliable growth. - 2 keys to to shorten the journey. - 3 signs to know when you've cracked it (for now). This 13-minute episode is short, but impactful. #startups #startupgrowth #founders #entrepreneurship

I first met James Morrell nearly 5 years ago when he was starting to scale - and we continue to chat, have lunch 🍕and talk strategy today 💬- great to have you on the podcast to unpack a bit more publicly ! #startupaus #moving #entrepreneurship