Paige Finn DohertyFounding Partner, Behind Genius · Founding Partner at Behind Genius Ventures

what lessons has Deepak Sekar applied building Prof Jim after having sold a company?

30 Sept 2023 · 1 min

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In this interview excerpt, Deepak Sekar reflects on the key lessons he carried over from his first entrepreneurial venture, which he sold, to his current effort building Prof Gym (also referred to as Prof Jim). He emphasizes that his initial experience taught him the pitfalls of operating as a solo founder, describing it as overwhelming and inefficient. Consequently, his primary takeaway for the new company is to assemble a strong founding team—he now works with two co‑founders, sharing responsibilities and making the journey more manageable. This shift from a single‑founder model to a collaborative founding team is presented as a major factor that simplifies his life and improves the venture’s execution.

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I'm curious to hear, like, what are some of the lessons that you've applied building Prof Gym after having sold a company?
So the first time you do a company, you're kind of learning on the job, just to be honest, and everyone knows it. So the second time is when you actually leverage your previous experience. So I made a lot of mistakes in my previous company now that when I think back, one of them was I tried to do it on my own as a single founder, and it was a ton of work. So this time around, one of my big learnings was get multiple people to share the journey with. It's just too much work to do it on your own. So I got a couple of really good co-founders, and the 3 of us, we've been working together so well. So it's, it's made my life a lot easier. So that's one big piece of learning.