Insights From the Founder of Employee Engagement Startup Thankbox
Last Updated: By TRUiC Team
Any entrepreneur can tell you, launching a startup is a learning process. Therefore, one of the best things you can do prior to launching a startup of your own is to learn from those who have blazed the trail. We were fortunate enough to hear some valuable insights during our interview with Valentin Hinov from the employee engagement startup Thankbox that will inspire, motivate, and teach aspiring and established entrepreneurs alike.
What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
“Accept the fact that you’ll learn a lot of lessons the hard way. You can read all the advice in the world, but you’ll inevitably make mistakes that others have made before, even if you were warned about them. A lot of the startup advice I was given only made sense in retrospect after I made a lot of the core mistakes. Don’t be let down by that — it’s part of the journey.”
What is your advice for coming up with a unique startup idea?
“Don't just look at the exciting new tech industries for startup inspirations.
Find a problem in a ‘boring’ industry that hasn't changed in a long time — ideally one that hasn't really seen much disruption in the last years where you can make an outsized impact. There are so many industries with low-hanging fruit problems that would gladly pay for someone to solve them.
This is most likely where I'll search for inspiration for my next startup.”
What is your advice for overcoming challenges and failure?
“The best way to deal with failure is to accept it and ‘experience it’ fully. Let yourself feel bad for a while — it's okay. It's normal. Startups are hard. What's important is that after the failure, you try again.”
What is the biggest lesson you learned and what can aspiring entrepreneurs take from it?
“Be genuine — with your team and especially with your customers. It's honestly the best way to be. Use ‘I’ when talking to your customers, no ‘we.’ People like talking to other people, not faceless corporations.
More often than not, you'll get a level of understanding and empathy which will surprise you. It will also help strengthen the bond people have with your business.”
Next Steps:
- Check out Thankbox's origin story and ways to support them!
- Keep up with more startup companies by following Startup Savant on Google News!
- Start your own startup by reading our guide on how to start a startup.
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