I Thought I Knew My Value as a Founder — Until I Had an Ego Death Starting a New Company

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Key Takeaways I started a business in an industry I wasn’t completely familiar with, and I realized how much I still had left to learn.

There is power in going back to a novice mindset, unlearning bad habits and asking “why” all over again.

I spent years in digital marketing, running my own company and finding a fair amount of success. I understood how things worked, and people often came to me for answers. My track record gave me confidence and a sense of comfort, even though I sometimes made mistakes.

But I decided to leave that industry and started the Hemp Foundation, then Ukhi. My confidence faded quickly. Suddenly, I was in a world where none of my old knowledge seemed to matter.

Sometimes it gave me a sinking feeling. It was a new world of farming, factories, laborers and land laws. It was a highly regulated sector. I felt like a beginner again. I had the drive, but I barely knew the rules of the game.

Embracing identity crisis

Suddenly, I found myself in a zone where I didn’t even understand the basic vocabulary. I had to face the fact that my years of experience were worthless when it came to physical materials and government regulations. I realized my old tricks were not working. They were worthless. In my previous role, the results did not take time to show. In this new world, “fast” was not an option. Everything was taking time.

Here, the cost of failing was quite high. Even the fixes were not easy. In manufacturing, fixing one simple mistake meant a massive loss of time and money. I found myself sitting in boring government offices for hours, waiting to talk to people who didn’t care about my past wins. To them, I wasn’t a “successful entrepreneur” — I was just a guy who didn’t understand the legal paperwork.

I had to learn how to deal with government officials who moved at their own pace. I had to learn the laws and regulations governing an industry that is among the most heavily monitored in the world. I had to go through a total “ego death” to realize that my value wasn’t in what I already knew, but in how fast I could learn.

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