Our mentors and ambassadors all have years of experience starting businesses and they’ve learnt some valuable lessons along the way.

So we asked them, what is one piece of advice they wish they knew sooner?

Lynda Coker: Director, Create Cultivate

Back yourself 100% and find an appropriate mentor and a sponsor as both have different roles in supporting you and both are important.

Christina Chun: Founder, CEO 1Scope

For women leaders, likeability and success hardly go hand in hand – they are negatively correlated. That when acting authoritatively, women leaders are disliked much more than men. They are often penalised when they behave in ways that violate gender stereotypes. And this is just one aspect that disadvantages us as women. From external forces, to the doubles and expectations we put on ourselves, it’s important to be aware of these mental models and minimise the impact it has on our overall performance and happiness.

Christie Whitehill: Founder Tech Ready Women

If I could go back and do it all again I would focus on building an MVP, validating my idea and get expert guidance a lot sooner.

(DOWNLOAD FREE EBOOK – 5 ways to validate your idea)

Ben Reid: Founder, TEMPL TV

Our number one weapon is self-awareness. When you know your strengths you can double and triple down on them, and when you know your weaknesses you know what to work on and who to surround yourself with.

Ben Cochrane: Product Manager and Technical Founder, Learnt

Having a solid set of 1-3 mentors that you meet with on a regular basis (say every 6-8 weeks).

James Cameron: Partner, Airtree Ventures

In VC and in entrepreneurship, speed is everything.  It’s you’re one genuine advantage against incumbent competition, and without speed and intensity, nothing can scale

Lee Yiang: Co-Founder, Giggable

It’s 3 times harder and takes 5 times longer than what I originally thought, but that just makes it 15 times more worthwhile.

Lambros Photios: Founder, Station 5

There’s a huge amount I wish I could tell my prior self; but primarily that as the person running the show, you need to think big picture. Don’t get too bogged down in the details, that’s what you hire experts for.

Chris Illuk: Manager, Open Agent

Know the business model on day one. Your product and organisation will be built around it.

Albert Mai: Growth Hacker, Glam Corner

Be curious but stay focused. Don’t get distracted and pulled away by all of the new and cool stuff. When there is anything new like marketing channel, software, idea or competitor, evaluate and do a research on it to identify if it helps you to achieve your current goal or if you can learn anything from it to apply for your business. Don’t spend hours or days working on it just to realise it doesn’t help you to get closer to your goals. Stay focused on what gives you the most leverage for your startup. I wish I knew this sooner as I would have been able to get a lot more done even sooner at previous startups I worked at, but I believe that’s what learning is all about.