BURST Co-Founders Give Advice to Entrepreneurs

Haymish Khayat: I would actually start at the very beginning. I used to do everything on my own. To be honest with you, I was a solo entrepreneur who would try things and didn’t create a team around them. And I had an uncle that turned to me. He goes, what are you doing? You can’t do it all. You’re also not good at certain parts of it. Find a partner. And so, when things go bad, go wrong. It’s very good to have someone that complements you. Very different people, yet we work very well together. And so, when I look at it, and someone’s on a bit of a journey, if you’re doing it on your own, I would always say, look for someone else that can complement you and kind of give you that whole you become a team. Because, yeah, it’s lonely, and it’s good to know that someone else can understand what you’re going through. Even when it came to the first time, I ever made a product; I probably emailed 50 or 60 different companies. I was like; I’m going to try and work this out. And I learned while I did it. I did not know everything. When you look to the top, you think everyone has it, has it figured out, and then when you get further and further up the ladder, you realize that you still haven’t figured [it all] out. And now you know people that are above you, and they don’t really have it figured out. And that’s always something that I meet people, and they’re quite nervous to start. And I’m like, try it. See what happens. There’s no risk. Send 100 emails and work it out. Somebody will come back, and maybe something sparks from that. 

Brittany Stewart: I think my advice would be to be really honest about why you’re doing this. Building something great requires great leadership, which means the removal of your ego, the removal of your selfish needs and wants, and the ability to ask questions about what is it, and what it is going to take to become the fullest expression of what this can be, which means you get the best out of everyone around you. Anybody who’s ever been truly great on this earth, whether it’s an athlete, a military leader, a world leader, or a business leader. They have a routine. And whether they feel like doing it, they do it. And I remember one of my first bosses said, look, how many times have you. Do you think Mick Jagger has sung Satisfaction? But he gets up every single time and sings Satisfaction like it’s the first and last time he’s ever going to sing Satisfaction. I link into that personal discipline with a morning regimen; it’s my morning coffee, it’s my dog, it’s a walk with my husband, with the dog. But it’s linking into it’s time to go, and it’s time to do this. And whether or not I feel like doing this doesn’t really matter. It just has to be done in the evening. Choosing a line of delineation that it’s a certain point in time, it does have to turn off and not let it bleed because halfway attention to what you’re doing is not great.

Haymish Khayat: For work or for your personal life.

Brittany Stewart: For anything like this, focus on what you’re working on and as you’re working on it.