Back in 52 B.C., the Roman leader Julius Caesar was quoted as saying, “Ut est rerum omnium magister usus.” Roughly translated it means, “Experience is the teacher of all things,” or the more widely used, “Experience is the best teacher.” Few could argue with that ancient proverb.
D CEO recently posed the following question to three wildly successful entrepreneurs: “What is something you wish you had known earlier in your career?”
Participating were Ben Lamm, co-founder, executive chairman, and CEO of AI company Hypergiant Industries; Jamie O’Banion, CEO and co-founder of BeautyBio; and Alex Danza, founder of the luxury bus line Vonlane. Here’s what they had to say:
Alex Danza
Founder and CEO, Vonlane
“My best advice is to trust your instincts. You will come across many ‘experts’ during your journey. Hear them out, learn what you can, but at the end of the day, remember that nobody knows your business better than you. As founder, you have the most passion for your ideas, team, and customers. That passion translates into an uncanny ability to know in your gut what is best.”
Jamie O’Banion
CEO and Co-Founder, BeautyBio
“It’s the same advice I tell myself and my team every day: ‘Put your customer hat on.’ If you put yourself in the shoes of your target audience, not just at your company’s inception, but with every subsequent initiative, product, and service you develop, you will always have your answer. If it’s the right fit for your customer, it will be the correct choice for your company.”
Ben Lamm
Founder and CEO, Hypergiant Industries
“When I started my career, I thought I had to be responsible for all of the ideas the company created. Now I know that’s not true. We still pull a lot of things from my brain, but we also work with a number of excellent minds who are doing cutting-edge research and development. I can help those ideas become a reality, and together we can take on much bigger and more exciting projects.”
