In this interview, host Bob London asks serial entrepreneur Jon Romm for essential advice for founders and startup teams. Romm emphasizes that there is no one‑size‑fits‑all method for building a company: founders can pursue large‑scale fundraising or bootstrap, but must avoid getting locked into a single methodology. He stresses the critical importance of the people surrounding the founder—particularly investors and board members—as they become long‑term partners throughout the venture’s evolution. The core personal trait Romm highlights is resilience: founders need a "thick skin," the willingness to wake up each day ready for battle, and to treat every day as "game day," drawing on his competitive sports background. This mindset helps navigate the inevitable ups and downs, allowing founders to persist through setbacks rather than exaggerating the difficulty of entrepreneurship. The conversation closes with mutual appreciation and a reminder that daily commitment and a supportive network are key to thriving in the startup world.
Chapters
If you were in a room of your peers, folks that are really involved in, in the startup, you know, venture fundraising community, technology, et cetera, do you have any go-to advice for them on the critical things you need to know about building a business, surviving, thriving, anything like that?
I guess what I would say is, you know, this is my second time around very differently than the first time. This one we've, we've addressed the market differently. So What I'd say is, you know, there's no such cookie-cutter approach. Don't get stuck in a certain methodology. You know, you can do things where you raise huge amounts of money and, you know, go at it really, you know, big or go home. You can do it bootstrapping and be very specific and stay focused. I think for me, you know, who you surround yourself with, meaning who's your money, And who's on your board and what's there is really important because you're going to need them consistently as you walk through it in different ways, shape, or form. My last statement would be, which I think is a good lesson for all of us in life, is you got to be thick-skinned. You got to be willing to wake up every day and sort of go to battle. And each day is not going to be perfect and each day is not going to be the worst day of your life, but you're definitely going to go through some ups and downs and ebbs and flows. But just kind of soldier on. You'll get there. It's hard, but it's not nearly as hard as people like to make you feel like it is because people, they make themselves feel better when they said it's really hard, guys. You know, that makes them feel better. And yeah, I'm not one of those people. I think there's, there's plenty of competent people out there that have really good ideas that really should bring them to the forefront, can have success.
I don't know if you call that persistence or resilience. Uh, you said have a thick skin. I mean, I think that that is so important, especially for younger generations coming up through, and you've been involved with sports at a very competitive level, you know that sports is part of that. You know, you got to have resilience. It's not always going to go your way. That is probably the number one thing that I think folks need to hear at any stage, but in particular, at those formative times where, in the world that we inhabit, where things are not so hard for kids all the time because parents want to make it easier for them, that that is the, you know, sort of the antithesis of what they really need is they need to fall down. And they need to skin their knee. And they need to know that they can get back up. So I love what you said.
But the one thing I would say to you is for those, you know, who in different ways, shapes, and forms have competed in their life, you know, I think every day is game day, right? And if you can wake up that way and you can sort of go through your, you know, whatever process gets you ready to go out and compete on a day-to-day basis, I'm ready to run through a wall now. Yeah. That's what I love about, you know, every day is game day.
I love that. I love that. It doesn't feel like a cliché when you say it. Well, that's a great place to wrap it up. So I really appreciate you taking time to do it. It, and we'll talk again soon, I hope.
