Tim Metzner

Step away from the business/challenge/decision. Counter intuitive, but spending time actively away from the business will unlock creative thinking and decision making in ways that are hard to explain. You can do this both programmatically (i.e. volunteer to coach youth sports or in the community) and ad hoc as needed (i.e. when staring something down step away for day or weekend of adventure/play).

IMO the two greatest ways to learn and grow are: 1. Spend several years working for/closely with other experienced founders (ideally those who have a clear heart for helping level up others around them). Go deeper in your learning by asking them about key decisions being made and the why behind their strategies. 2. Start building a company. Tho the odds of success will be against you, successful or not the learning journey will be immense. Starting a company is, in fact, the only way to get an MBA in entrepreneurship.

Agreements > Expectations Unrealistic timelines come from unspoken (and therefore not agreed upon) expectations. To move away from this, you need to build trust and a cadence of working together to move towards agreements; a set of outcomes influenced and agreed upon by both parties.

Use your Board of Directors or Advisory Board to extend your network. Great boards are built to help cover the blind spots of the founding/executive teams. If network is an outage, make sure you are tapping folks for your boards who are able/willing to open their network. One thing to consider before doing that, however, is where you need help (i.e. do you need more connections amongst investors, within your industry, recruiting, for partnerships, etc). Having a broad network is helpful, but having access to the right people within your industry is significantly better.

Learn how to manage your energy and emotions. The highs are high, the lows are low, and your team, customers, and investors feed off of your energy. Your tank won't always be full, so know how to identify when you need a break and how to recharge your body, mind, and soul.

This one is pretty easy, IMO: spend time with (work for!) experienced entrepreneurs if you want to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset! More than anything else, who we surround ourselves with on a daily and weekly basis will impact our development and mindset. Make this part of your job, actively participate in gatherings of other entrepreneurs, and reach out with the best for 1-1 mentorship. Going to work for an early stage startup (with regular access to the founder/ceo) + actively seeking out mentorship from other entrepreneurs in the area, was critical to seeding my own entrepreneurially journey (and mindset).