Stacey Abrams, an entrepreneur and scale leader, shares insights on harnessing risk in entrepreneurship. Learn from her experiences starting three companies, founding voting rights organizations, and scaling economic projects. Discover the significance of persistence, efficiency, and timing in entrepreneurship. Gain lessons on learning from failures, embracing uncertainties, and overcoming fear. Explore the journey of scaling a baby water company and the importance of creating and saving jobs for businesses.
Embracing risk and harnessing it can be crucial for success in entrepreneurship, as demonstrated by Stacey Abrams in her scaling of businesses both in politics and outside of it.
Building a business model based on trust, reliability, and adaptability, as well as learning from failures and embracing curiosity, are essential aspects of entrepreneurial success.
Deep dives
Elevating Team Potential: Insights from Stacey Abrams and Laura Hodgson
Stacey Abrams and Laura Hodgson, co-founders of Insomnia Consulting, share their experiences in scaling businesses and their philosophy of embracing both 'yes' and 'but' approaches. Stacey's ruthless efficiency and focus on the mission allowed them to win clients, while Laura's relentless pursuit and risk-taking drove growth. They emphasize the importance of bringing complementing skill sets and working with trusted partners. After nourish, their baby water company faltered due to scalability challenges, they founded Now Account, a FinTech company that helps small businesses get paid immediately for their services. Now Account's success lies in addressing the essential risks for small businesses and building partnerships based on trust.
Curiosity Fuels Entrepreneurship: The Journey of Stacey Abrams and Laura Hodgson
Stacey Abrams and Laura Hodgson embarked on an entrepreneurial journey with Insomnia Consulting and later founded Now Account. As reluctant entrepreneurs, they faced uncertainties and risks. However, their intellectual curiosity compelled them to learn and adapt, enabling them to identify gaps in the market. They navigated challenges by bringing trusted partners on board and finding creative solutions. Through their experiences, they highlight the importance of embracing curiosity, learning from failures, and building a business model based on trust and reliability.
The Power of Risk Aversion: Navigating Challenges in Entrepreneurship
Stacey Abrams and Laura Hodgson emphasize the significance of risk aversion in entrepreneurship. They discuss the challenges faced by small businesses, such as delayed payments, and how Now Account helps mitigate those risks. They tackle the misconceptions surrounding risk aversion and highlight the need for investors to consider entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. They encourage entrepreneurs to take on essential risks and be novel in their approach to fundraising. By reshaping the narrative around risk, entrepreneurs can create valuable solutions and positively impact the business landscape.
Scaling with Resilience: Lessons from Nourish to Now Account
Through the pivot from nourish to Now Account, Stacey Abrams and Laura Hodgson demonstrate the importance of assessing risks and adapting business models. They discuss the challenges they faced, including lack of scalability and access to capital. By embracing failures as learning opportunities, they built Now Account to address the payment needs of small businesses. Their focus on providing value and their ability to build trust with partners enabled them to scale nationally and create thousands of jobs. They highlight the significance of agile thinking, resilience, and understanding the pain points of customers in achieving entrepreneurial success.
For some entrepreneurs, risk is just part of the game. But for the reluctant entrepreneur, whose endeavors come as a response to a need they've identified, risk can feel more like a necessary evil. That’s why you need to learn to harness risk. Stacey Abrams, an entrepreneur and scale leader both in and outside of politics, is a perfect example of how harnessing risk can be key to your success. Outside of politics, she’s started three companies with her business partner, Lara Hodgson. Their new book, Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back, dives into the lessons learned from those experiences. She also founded and scaled two voting rights organizations: the New Georgia Project and Fair Fight Action, as well as the census mobilization effort Fair Count and the Southern Economic Advancement Project.
Read Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back, by Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson: https://amzn.to/36bw5Ay