NFX’s Post

Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster of highs and lows, but I believe it's important to stop and honor the milestones. Edstruments is celebrating its (legal) 5th birthday today, though the idea was sparked in early 2017 during my last year at Stanford. Here are five personal reflections on the journey so far as we cross five years 👇 1. 💫 It took many people to get us here, including team members, investors, advisors, and supporters...including many who I have never even met in person. The earliest Edstruments partners who took a bet on us in 2020 (right before the world turned upside down) gave us some validation that we were building something of value and helped us persist through a rough first pandemic year. The partners who've joined us in 2021 and beyond continue to reaffirm that there is a real need for what we're building. 2. 👬 Having the right co-founder is powerful. When Ashwin Gopi Krishna first started working with me in August 2019, it was supposed to be as a temporary ("a few months") favor as he was figuring out next steps. Today, Edstruments wouldn't exist without his technical expertise and steady product leadership. His skillset is completely different from mine, and our shared commitment to the mission and vision of what we do makes us a great team. 3. 💪 Resilience, perseverance, and optimism are perhaps the most important characteristics to develop as an entrepreneur. I have never faced so much rejection in my life prior to this work...whether from a prospective partner, investor, or job candidate, I have been told "no" hundreds of times in the last five years. Staying optimistic and believing in the best days being ahead have kept us going even on the hardest days. By the way....some of those individuals who told us "no" before are now some of our best and most active current partners. 4. ⛰ Staying grounded in what matters most has prevented entrepreneurship from becoming all-consuming. When I started Edstruments, I made a commitment to do it with balance, including prioritizing my marriage with Kelly, physical/mental health, and personal relationships. I became a father one year in, and had a second child three years later, both whom I try to spend quality time with every day. I have times where I commit to "switching off" from work, and for the last year I've met with a therapist monthly. I continue to nurture my faith and spiritual community. Perhaps all of this means we move more slowly than if I was working 80-hour weeks and every weekend...but it allows the role to feel sustainable rather than burn-out inducing. 5. ⏳ Building something great takes time...much more than I expected. It's tempting to read articles about startups that exploded from "day one" and believe this is what success is supposed to look like. More commonly, certainly for us, it's a steady grind with various inflection points. We're hitting one of those now, and I'm excited for what the years ahead hold. Gratitude to all, Aditya

Similarly to why I love watching professional athletes play, I LOVE watching pro sellers sell. Here is what I loved about Mia Lilienthal's pitch 🔽 1) She established herself as a market expert, while also providing value to the prospect by explaining observed trends. At the end of the meeting the prospect will walk away with some value. 2) She identified pain and showed understanding to the prospect by identifying all the options that the leader had tried but had failed. 3) She established that there is a wrong vs. right way to tackle this challenge. What leaders have been doing isn't working and needs to change. 3) She sold the next meeting, not features AND got all the stakeholders involved on the next call. My personal opinion? This is a great template for how to have meaningful, consultative, conversations with our prospects.

The proof is in our testimonials! Explore the experiences of clients and candidates who have trusted DAVRON. Your success story could be the next one featured: #DAVRONsuccessstories https://lnkd.in/eZ-YggT

Don’t Forget to Celebrate Your Wins! I recently spoke with a Branch Manager who made a great point: as an industry, we're often too focused on pointing out mistakes and failures, both in ourselves and others. We don’t spend enough time celebrating our wins or recognizing what we’ve done well. Let’s change that. Instead of fixating on the negatives, let’s take a moment to appreciate our successes—big or small—and recognize the contributions of those around us. If a processor, LOA, or underwriter has gone above and beyond to save a loan or help in some way, take a moment to thank them. And don't forget to share that appreciation with the management team. We all work hard, and we deserve to step back and be proud of what we’ve accomplished. Let’s make sure we’re celebrating those victories, both individually and as a team.

🎉 We're headed to this year's Legal Value Network's annual LVNx happening in Chicago, Illinois! We are thrilled to once again be attending this year's event as #Platinum sponsors.  Our team will be there in full force and we'd love to connect with you! 🌟 Rob Stote 🌟Catherine Krow 🌟Briana McCrory (She/Her) 🌟Jack Kingston 🌟Natasha McCain We have a ton of exciting plans in the mix to make this conference a great one. Watch this space for more details! #LegalEvent #LegalFinance #PricingandProfitability #LegalIndustry

Last week I had the opportunity to moderate a fantastic panel discussion with Rosie McWhorter, CAMS, CFE, CFCS, CRC, Kasra Zamani, and Mahesh Muthu, hosted by the ACAMS Central Texas Chapter . The crypto industry is rapidly evolving, and so are the challenges it presents in terms of AML and KYC compliance. We delved into these issues, discussing the unique hurdles faced by crypto firms in identifying AML risks. To address these challenges, we explored how industry players are adapting by adopting best practices, leveraging innovative technologies, upskilling people, and fostering collaboration with regulators to create a robust and compliant ecosystem. It was a great opportunity to learn from experts and gain insights into the future of compliance in the crypto space. #AML #KYC #Crypto #Fintech #Compliance #eClerx #ACAMS

No matter where you're traveling in Texas, you'll see the work of dedicated employees James Stewart and Issac Cohen who oversee the License Plate Factory at the Wynne Unit. James and Isaac lead a team that produces over 10 million plates a year for the State of Texas. Through their work, they're helping guide the agency toward its 2030 Vision while helping change lives along the way. Watch how they're making an impact, one license plate at a time:

We got a biiiiiiig fish for Coffee & Compete And he broke down everything that is happening in the hottest competition in tech 👇 The LLM wars. Klue’s CTO, cofounder (and some might say Jason Smith’s better half) Sarathy Naicker joined us to share: ↘️ Why the big players are pricing dumping down to outrageous prices 🤖 The strategy behind open models and proprietary data as a competitive advantage 🚩 His predictions for how the market grab race will play out Awesome to have one of the original minds behind building Klue’s product dropping his wisdom on how this market will play out. (and we didn’t pay him to say brand was a big factor in who will win, we swear) Also, go check out the full epi below to get a day in the life of Hunter and everything he did to respond to a competitor’s release 🔗

The proof is in our testimonials! Explore the experiences of clients and candidates who have trusted DAVRON. Your success story could be the next one featured: #DAVRONsuccessstories https://lnkd.in/eiuwcNs

Don't be a member of the McVague family: (from a LinkedIn description): I work with individuals and companies to improve their lives and businesses by enhancing knowledge, skills, and choices. We work together to identify challenges and gaps, and...I develop appropriate solutions that improve outcomes. #ClarityWins #ConfusionLoses