Founding Principles

I’m pretty open with most people about the fact that I don’t fully know what I’m doing. Honestly, I don’t think any first-time founder does. Every stage of building a company is a fresh set of problems you’ve never seen before. There’s no playbook, no map, no one to hold your hand. But over the last year, through mistakes, momentum, long nights, and a ridiculous amount of learning, I’ve built a set of principles that anchor me. They guide how I live and how I build. And if I stay true to them, I’m confident they’ll take me where I’m trying to go. 1. Always be learning. If you’re not learning, you’re not growing. Curiosity is a compounding advantage, it makes you sharper, humbler, and better prepared when the real questions show up. Ask, explore, tear things apart, rebuild them. Absorb perspectives that challenge yours. The more you learn, the more your own worldview solidifies. Staying a student is a superpower. 2. Speed defines startups. Focus enables speed. If we move fast we win. Fast to implement, fast to iterate, fast to collect feedback, fast to ship. But speed only matters if it’s pointed in the right direction. Focus is what turns motion into momentum. And momentum is what creates products users genuinely love. YC drilled this into me, and they were right. 3. Do hard things. Find comfort in the uncomfortable. Endurance athletes understand this better than anyone. They build resilience, not just in sport, but in life. Taking the easy route feels good today but costs you tomorrow. The meaningful stuff is hard. It takes time. It requires you to step into the places where you’re unsure, exposed, under pressure. But those are the places where you grow. Shoutout HYBRD for this one. 4. Best idea wins. Be ready for a fight. I don’t care about hierarchy. I don’t care about titles. If we’re making a decision, bring your conviction and bring your evidence. If you know something I don’t, great… you’ll win the argument. If you don’t, then listen and learn. The only thing that matters is building the best product and making the best call. The right idea wins…not the loudest, and not the most senior. Some people say I’m argumentative. I say I’m passionate. Convince me I’m wrong. 5. Don’t be afraid to ask The world is full of creative, passionate, experienced people who’ve been where you are. People who’ve made the mistakes you haven’t made yet, lived the chapters you haven’t reached, and can point you in the right direction. Don’t be afraid to reach out. Take them for coffee. Respect their time. Ask real questions. The ones you’re actually wrestling with. Learn from them. And most importantly, treat them like teachers, not resources. Resources get used up. Teachers love the craft of helping someone grow. 6. Obsession with the customer. Everyone says this. Very few actually mean it. But the truth is simple: if you don’t deeply understand the people you’re building for, you’re dead. Building something people want is already hard. Building something they still want a year from now is harder. That requires immersion, empathy, and a borderline unhealthy level of curiosity about your user. I’m fortunate that our customers are my peers, my friends, and me. That makes the obsession natural. YC hammers this into your brain. 7. Say what you do. Do what you say. This one is simple, and it matters more than most people think. If you say you’re going to do something, fucking do it. Nothing will burn trust faster than empty promises in any relationship: friendships, teams and life. Reliability is a form of professionalism. It’s a form of respect. Shout out to Matthew McConaughey for this one. 8. Build on the backbone of trust. Authenticity isn’t optional. People feel it. People remember it. If you’re not trustworthy, you lose respect. If you lose respect, you lose the right to build anything meaningful. Rendezvu is built on relationships with our experts, brands and customers. If we don’t earn trust every step of the way, nothing else matters. 9. If we do the right thing, the money will follow. Phil Knight was right. Do right by the product, by the user, by the mission, by the people around you and the business results become almost automatic. Not effortless, but unavoidable. Integrity pays compounding dividends. 10. Consistency is king. Consistency is underrated because it isn’t glamorous. It’s reps. Showing up when you're tired. Shipping when no one notices. Keeping the promise you made to yourself last week. Over time, consistency turns into skill, skill turns into trust, and trust turns into opportunity. In startups, as in sport, it’s everything. Nothing has taught me this more than endurance running.