Learn The Universal Startup Truth from Iowa's International Entrepreneur Conference

“Be bold. Take a leap of faith.” 

That’s the response to the question: “What would you want other entrepreneurs to learn from your experience?”

Steve Jobs? No.  

Richard Branson? No.  

Walt Disney? No.

J.K. Rolwing? No.

Not one of these famous entrepreneurs is the author of this simple truth.

Fuadilah Mulyadhien “Adi”, a 30-year-old entrepreneur from Jakarta, Indonesia shared this startup insight on Startup Grind Muscatine’s first ever International Entrepreneur Skype Conference. The local Iowa crowd celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week along with Adi and three other like-minded entrepreneurs from around the world during the 30-minute skype call. Also on the call were Muhammad Amer of Lahore, Pakistan; Rodrigo Ferro in Pelotas, Brazil; and Qusai Damrah from Amman, Jordan.

So What Does a Leap Look Like?

Complete confidence or trust in a person or a thing ora belief not based on proof: that’s the definition of faith.

A bold leap of faith into the entrepreneurial journey seems to be a universal step and is advice offered by entrepreneurs from all around the world. Belief in one’s self, one’s ideas and one’s drive to succeed are startup truths shared by entrepreneurs regardless of who or where they are.

From Brazil, Rodrigo Ferro suggests, in addition to having faith in self, entrepreneurs need to really know people with whom the entrepreneur interacts. Working with people from around the world and from different cultures can be quite a challenge to the startup journey.

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Ferro says: “I want to get people to work beside me, not for me. You can only accomplish that when you truly understand the important differences every person brings to the project.”

“Yes, growing with people,” adds Mulyadhien, “is important to having success while starting your business.”

“Connections,” says Qusai Damrah, from Jordan. Making connections with customers and all the other people needed to add value to your project are key to startup success.

“Don’t give up on your dream. If you don’t believe, no one else will,” said Damrah. According to Damrah, an entrepreneur is often his own biggest obstacle, so he must believe in himself in order to accomplish his goals.

Although market understanding, technical know-how, and financial integrity are important, advice to entrepreneurs from entrepreneurs starts with faith. From Asia to the Americas, entrepreneurs know they must believe in themselves and others to take that leap of faith on the startup journey.

“Just go for it and pursue your idea,” said Muhammad Amer from Pakistan.  “The worst thing that can happen is your idea fails. So what, you’ll be better the next time.”