This is the One Thing Your Startup Needs to Succeed
Welcome to the Dave vs. Startups.
After selling my SaaS company, I realized that this one thing mattered far more than funding, product & market fit.
That one thing is authentic leadership.
The kind I failed at repeatedly until I finally understood this important truth:
The biggest mistake I made as a founder wasn't financial.
It was me trying to create a company culture that wasn't authentic to who I actually am.
The fact is authentic leadership is what made everything else easier.
Here's why:
I remember trying to force a company culture that just wasn't us.
It flat-out didn't work.
When you try to be something you're not as a founder, your entire organization feels that disconnect.
Your team can sense the inauthenticity, and everything becomes harder than it needs to be.
The more authentic you are as a leader, the easier literally everything else becomes.
When you're true to yourself:
Your culture flows naturally
Your team knows what to expect
You make decisions that align with your actual values
That kind of culture builds the kind of stability you can’t fake.
Early in my startup journey, I made a terrible mistake.
I put a major insurance company's logo on our website after just one demo, before they were actually a client.
When they called us out, I completely melted down in front of my team.
I was embarrassed and angry at myself.
That meltdown taught me how damaging it is to bottle things up and act like you're holding it all together when you're not.
That moment was messy.
But it reminded me how important it is to be transparent, even when you're embarrassed.
Having space to be human, flaws and all, is more valuable than trying to look flawless.
Being an authentic leader means being accountable for your mistakes.
I still feel terrible about that logo incident.
But owning it (rather than hiding it) became part of our company story, a reminder that transparency matters more than looking flawless.
Emotional discipline is critical, but it doesn't mean hiding who you are.
There's a difference between having a complete meltdown in the office and showing genuine human reactions to setbacks.
Your team needs to see that you're a real person navigating real challenges.
I think some founders try to emulate Elon, Jobs, or whoever else is the business icon of the moment.
But if that's not authentically you, your team will smell the disconnect from a mile away.
And nothing kills culture faster than a founder who feels like they're playing a role.
When you lead authentically, everything flows more easily, culture, decisions, and growth.
You attract people who genuinely connect with your mission and working style.
You make decisions that truly align with your values rather than what you think others expect of you.
The path to an authentic company culture starts with a brutally honest self-assessment:
Who am I really as a leader?
What are my actual strengths and weaknesses?
How do I naturally work best?
Build from there, not from some idealized version of leadership you've seen elsewhere.
I built and sold my company because I eventually learned to lead in a way that was true to myself.
The culture we created wasn't perfect, but it was authentically ours.
And that authenticity created the foundation for everything else we achieved.
Don't make my early mistakes.
Be real from day one.
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“I just needed that one person to believe in me… If you don't find that in your circle, find that within yourself, believe in yourself because you can do anything you put your mind to.”
An incredible reminder to always believe in yourself. Tune into the Startup Different Podcast here
Thanks for reading!
Dave