It’s been a big year for FreshWorks Studio, the West Coast-based company with ”an audacious vision” to become Canada’s global leader in technology services. Not only did this previous Douglas 10 to Watch winner take home the Company of the Year — Growth Success Award from B.C.’s Technology Impact Awards, they won Employer of the Year at the VIATEC Awards.
We asked for some C-suite success secrets from CEO Samarth Mod, recipient of the Entrepreneur Award at the 2019 RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Awards for 2019.
BE prepared for a journey that will not always go according to plan. In entrepreneurship, you’ll have to constantly adapt, change, learn and move on. This is perhaps the toughest thing to learn right off the bat; it takes practice and time.
BE HUMBLE One of the most underrated qualities of successful entrepreneurs is humility. You need to be humble enough to constantly learn from your market, customers, peers and colleagues — to be a sponge — absorbing all the relevant knowledge while not taking failure personally.
BE STOIC Stoicism is the ability to control your emotions when things don’t go according to plan. Be a thermostat, not a thermometer; take a step back to reflect and adjust. And ask, “How’s the current situation going to impact me in three to four years?”
BE FRIENDLY At a time when everyone is trying to capture clients’ attention, friendly persistence, vulnerability and humour are powerful traits. Treat everyone as unique, not as one-size-fits-all.
BE OPEN Networking is immeasurably critical when you are starting out. You can waste a lot of time going to events that don’t add value, but once you find someone who trusts and believes in you, go above and beyond to maintain their trust. Make them look good and always express gratitude.
BE CONFIDENT Once you are in front of a potential client, tap into your self belief and remember, “You got this!”
This article is from the August/September 2019 issue of Douglas.
