What’s something you wish someone had taught you when you first started?

The Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial ecosystem is privileged to have a number of leaders who represent successful startups, Universities, entrepreneurial support organizations and more. Want to learn from the leaders? We’ve polled the men and women of the Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial ecosystem on several informative topics. Here are some of their answers:

Jeff Amerine, founder and managing director of Startup Junkie:

 “Enjoy the journey. With age I’ve learned the journey is the destination.”

 Carter Malloy, founder of AcreTrader:

 “Everything takes at least twice as long as you hope.”

Edwin Ortiz, founder of Luncher:

 “Your first theory of what the customers want is almost always wrong and getting your product/service in front of them really fast is key early on.”

 Rick West, co-founder and CEO of Field Agent:

 “Be careful what you sign. A signature is unforgiving.”

Omar Kasim, founder of Con Queso, Juice Palmand Plomo:

 “I wish someone showed me how to be more organized. I think a lot of people thought I knew exactly what I was doing and had a plan for everything. In reality, I was kind of making it up as I went.”

Brett Amerine, COO of Startup Junkie, co-founder of Cadron Capital Partners:

 “I’ve been lucky enough to receive a lot of good advice and direction. I didn’t start to take much of that advice seriously until around college. Also, there is no minimum age requirement to start or help grow a successful business. I wish I knew that back then.”

Canem Arkan, managing director of Endeavor Arkansas:

 “Embrace change. As a young professional, it was easy to seek comfort in the known. I enjoyed being good at my job and so wanted to keep the parameters of my job somewhat the same. However, it was only when I started taking risks in my career that I truly started to thrive. Taking risks meant that I would not always know what the next step would entail, whether I would be up to the task, or whether I would even ultimately succeed. It did however mean that I would continue to grow.”

Andrew Gibbs-Dabney, founder of LIVSN Designs:

“They did tell me, but it’s worth repeating: ‘It’s going to take twice as much money and twice as long as you think it will. That’s not a bad thing. Plan for it.’”

Christine Pummill, Community Manager at Plug and Play:

“Making a mistake or failure is an opportunity to learn and succeed in the future.” 

Have a question for leaders in the Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial community? Send it to caleb@startupjunkie.organd look for the answers in an upcoming blog post.