Hi There!

I hope you are enjoying your Thursday. Welcome back to another episode of Ask Ash, where I interview WatchMojo Founder & CEO Ashkan Karbasfrooshan and ask him questions about various topics, ranging from what is going on in the news, to giving career advice to students & entrepreneurs.

Today, we are answering a question from YOU, the reader! Recently, Ash posted on LinkedIn, talking about how sometimes, young founders and CEOs need to speak up, whether it is that they need more time, resources, time off, etc. Here is the link to that post on LinkedIn.

In this post, David Mensah asks about how being backed by sound investors with ample investment in the bank adds anything to the lessons being taught in the initial post. 

Here is David’s Question To Ash:

Ashkan, I understand the part “If you’re a young founder & CEO”, relative to bearing in mind that, ” your execs won’t necessarily come to you and ask for help”. But I am NOT entirely sure how the elements, “backed by sound investors with ample investment in the bank”, adds anything (to the lesson)?

I’m no Michael Jordan, but when I see Michael Jordan talk about the opportunities that LeBron James has, it reminds me of how entrepreneurs today have more opportunities than previous generations did… that’s normal and it’s healthy. 

Those opportunities are manifested more so with financing than anything else. You have no idea what I had to do to get investors to pay attention to us (there’s a Roger Sterling line from Mad Men in there about giving a lot of… massages). 

So, if you combine 

1) the trend of more individuals venturing into entrepreneurship at an earlier age with 

2) being able to raise money easier than in previous times, 

Then sometimes, young entrepreneurs mistake funding for the outcome and the end, whereas funding is a tool and a means to an end. You may have raised funding which is a validation that you’re headed in the right direction, but that does not necessarily mean that your team is delivering. If they are headed in the right direction, maybe they could use support; if they are not, then you definitely owe it to them to give them more support and resources.

Because of the lack of experience amongst many entrepreneurs, I fear that most entrepreneurs are not going to proactively go to their teams and ask them if they’re OK, and if they need help because historically, people asking for help signals weakness even though it should signal desire, will, motivation and mainly, initiative. 

Lastly, if you want to submit questions to Ash directly, you can do so by clicking the link here: https://watchmojo.com/suggest/AskMojo%20-%20WatchMojo’s%20founder%20Ash