Asking for Help
Investing in a startup when there is no product has a lot to do with evaluating the team and the market. When we look at the team, we evaluate not just the founders but the investors and advisors around the table. Often the strongest startups – especially when started by first-time founders – are strategic about who they surround themselves with and choose investors and advisors who bring complementary skills, relationships, and experience to the table. This reflects positively on the founder’s network and the potential of the startup idea especially when investors and advisors have domain expertise. It also indicates the founder’s self-awareness in acknowledging the team’s weaknesses and ability to identify and enlist the right people to plug in the gaps.
Startup Story
In 2009, Airbnb was struggling to gain traction and generate revenue. The founders reached out to their network of advisors and investors, including Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, and Alfred Lin, an investor and former COO of Zappos. They were facing a critical cash flow problem and needed advice on how to keep the business afloat.
Reid Hoffman and Alfred Lin played a crucial role, not just providing financial support by investing in the company but also offering strategic and operational guidance. Reid Hoffman advised Airbnb to focus on creating trust and a sense of belonging among hosts and guests. This guidance helped Airbnb refine its approach to building a strong community and reputation system, which is now a core part of its platform’s success. Alfred Lin helped Airbnb with operational improvements, particularly in customer service and scaling the platform. His experience from Zappos, known for its customer-centric approach, was invaluable in shaping Airbnb’s customer support strategy.
The help from these advisors and investors was instrumental to Airbnb’s success. With their guidance and financial backing, Airbnb was able to weather the storm, refine its business model, and ultimately grow into a global hospitality giant. Knowing when to seek help and leveraging the expertise and resources of advisors and investors can be pivotal for a startup’s success, especially during the critical stages of growth and development.
Personal Story
At a personal level, the importance of asking for help is no different. The ability to seek help from others reveals self-confidence, awareness of one’s limitations, and an appetite for growth. Yet too often, we hold back because we see it is as a sign of weakness, fear rejection, or don’t know who or where to turn to for help – and I wasn’t different.
Living by myself in SF at the height of social isolation in covid, I went through a deep depression. Being naturally introspective and quite self-aware, I had a high bar for seeking external help. Also having never accessed mental health in the 3 years I had lived in the US, I didn’t know how to go about it. I’m not alone – by multiple estimates, roughly half of all Americans with a mental health issue don’t access care for various reasons. So I sought help from books like Angela Duckworth’s “Grit” and watching TED talks on the topic. With those limited resources, I was able to self-therapize enough to pull myself out of the depression. But – like anyone who has gone through a traumatic experience – I carried scars which were counterproductive to my growth and goals. Last year, I decided it was time to put my pride aside and acknowledge the need to seek external help. Skeptical at first, I found tremendous value in getting the right care.
If you’re not yet comfortable with asking for help, remember your goal and focus on it as your north star. Approach it as an entrepreneur building a startup – get help wherever needed so you can optimize your path to success. If the most successful startups seek expertise, mentorship, and support from advisors, investors, and peers to navigate challenges and grow, why shouldn’t you leverage the wisdom and resources of others to propel yourself toward your aspirations? Embrace the notion that asking for help is a valuable skill that can accelerate your progress and lead you closer to achieving your dreams. Finally, though this article is about asking for help, proactively find and offer ways to help others in return to cultivate deeper relationships with mentors, advisors, and friends.
Originally published on “Data Driven Investor.” The primary author of this article is Sonal Panda, co-written with ChatGPT. These are purposely short articles focused on practical insights (we call it gl;dr — good length; did read). See here for other such articles. If this article had useful insights for you, comment away and/or give a like on the article and on Tau Ventures’ LinkedIn page, with due thanks for supporting our work. All opinions expressed here are from the author(s).
