Ibraheem Jabbar’s Post

Diving into the world of advising and investing in startups has been an eye-opener. I'm meeting founders from all walks of life, and honestly, it's a mixed bag. There's a noticeable divide: some are riding the social media wave, chasing after the next guru or "hot tip" as if that's the golden ticket. On the flip side, you've got the "sledgehammer" folks—my kind of people—putting in the grind with unwavering determination. I kicked off my first venture at 17, armed with nothing but a dream and an unmatched work ethic. No backers, just relentless 15-20 hour days, every single day, for over two decades. Sounds intense, right? That relentless push was behind hitting nearly half a billion in retail sales. Reflecting on this, it's quite astonishing to realize that all those hours translate to roughly 60 working years by conventional measures. Honestly, before I dove back into my journals and calendars, I would have bet it felt more like 80+ years! This journey was never about the spotlight or making a name for myself. It was about the grind, tackling real challenges, and creating lasting value. That's the piece I find lacking in some founders today. They're caught up in the hype, obsessed with branding and image over substance. The founders who truly resonate with me are those ready to get their hands dirty, to "build ugly." They understand that true creation isn't pretty—it's about being deep in the trenches, fully committed to the process. Building something great doesn't come with looking good; it comes from hard, often messy, work. As I dive deeper into the startup scene, I gravitate towards those embodying this sledgehammer mentality. It's not just about making noise; it's about hard work, innovation, and creating a meaningful impact. So, to all the founders out there, here's a piece of advice: real success is the result of real work. Don't get sidetracked by the hype. Keep your feet on the ground, stay focused, and build something genuinely impactful. #StartupLife #RealWork #Entrepreneurship #NoShortcuts #BuildingToLast

Dear Startup Founders: I See You. I see you working tirelessly, navigating challenges that only those who’ve built something can truly understand. And while I see many "professionals" on this platform offering advice—things like, "Hey Founders, remember to..." or "When raising capital, make sure you..."—I want to share something important: Many of these well-meaning individuals have never been in your shoes. They haven’t built companies, raised capital, assembled teams, or lost sleep over payroll. They haven’t walked away from stable jobs to chase a dream with nothing but passion and vision. I understand these advisors are offering what they believe is helpful insight, but let’s be real: There’s a huge difference between advice based on theory and advice born from real-world experience. If you’re going to offer advice to a startup founder, it would be refreshing to hear someone say: "I haven’t done what you’re doing, but I have immense respect for what you’re up against. I can only imagine what this journey is like." For those of you in the trenches, know this: I see you. I respect you. I’ve been there. As someone who’s built companies, celebrated small wins, and faced hard truths, I know how lonely and challenging this journey can be. So, if you’re a startup founder and you need someone to talk to this holiday season—whether about the highs or the lows—I’m here. Sometimes, just having someone new to share the journey with can make all the difference. Feel free to reach out to me directly at brian@eleventhhouseagency.com. —just support from someone who’s been through it. To the well-meaning advisors out there: Please remember the real challenges founders face every day. If you’re offering advice, make sure it’s practical and rooted in real experience. We’re all in this together. Let’s support the founders who are building the future. #StartupFounders #Entrepreneurship #RealTalk #FounderSupport #Mentorship #Hustle

Most founders overlook this one crucial investment - their personal brand. What’s the hidden ROI? Don’t worry, it’s never too late to start. I only started realizing the power of this a few months ago, and now feel compelled to share this insight with the rest of you. As founders we find ourselves focused on growing our startup, we often forget: You are your startups biggest marketing tool In this short time of investing into my personal brand I have: - Offered 5 jobs (respectfully had to turn down) - Formed incredible relationships on LinkedIn - Connected with 15 new angel investors - Established 5 partnerships - Discussing with 2 VC firms What’s more amazing, is the community I am building and the individuals I get to learn from each day. Founders remember, investing in your personal brand will help you: - Opportunity for diverse revenues stream - Become a magnet for hiring top talent - Enhanced Customer loyalty - Increase negotiating power - Increased adaptability - Build trust When did you start building your personal brand? What has it benefited for you? Follow me for startup insights, click the bell 🔔 and repost if you think it can help a fellow founder 🚀 #startups #entrepreneurship #founders #StartupLife

I've seen countless young minds dive headfirst into the startup world, only to find themselves drowning in challenges they never anticipated. Before you take the plunge, here are questions you should ask yourself before you hop onto the founder's journey: ☑ Can you sleep peacefully knowing your runway is shrinking? Founders need nerves of steel. ☑ When faced with obstacles, do you see a brick wall or a puzzle waiting to be solved? ☑ Are you ready to bootstrap, live on ramen, and potentially go without a salary? Your personal finances need to weather the storm. ☑ Can you put in 80-hour weeks and still make time for self-care? Burnout is real, and managing your energy is crucial. ☑ Are you comfortable being the face of your company, pitching to investors, and building partnerships? ☑ Does your idea keep you up at night (in a good way)? Remember, you don't need to be perfect in all these areas from day one, but you should be prepared to develop these skills along the way. How many of these boxes do you tick? If you're serious about becoming a founder and want a deeper dive into your readiness, let's talk. Comment "Ready" below, and I'll dm you. #startup #founder #startuptips #founderlife #enterpreneur #hustle #jobopportunities

Social media makes starting and scaling a business look easy. I’ve built 2 startups: PURE Private Label LLC and RevMulti. And I can tell you → reality is far from what’s shown online. If I could give advice to my younger self, it would be this: 1) Not everything matters. Focus on the few things that drive growth and say no to anything that pulls you off track. 2) Your team is everything. Their growth, well-being, and trust are what will help your company thrive long-term. 3) It’s hard to let go, but you can’t do it all. Learn to trust your team, delegate clearly, and step back. 4) Plans rarely go the way you expect. Stay flexible, face challenges head-on, and pivot when needed. 5) Your values are your company’s backbone. When things get tough, a strong culture will hold everything together. Scaling a startup will push you to your limits. But overcoming challenges, seeing growth, and learning along the way is worth it. Stay focused on what matters most. Take care of your people. Learn from mistakes. And keep moving forward. *** What’s the best lesson you’ve learned while scaling a business? Let me know in the comments! #startup

Fancy??? Startup founders often wear many hats, each one contributing to a unique blend of exhilaration and stress. Imagine working tirelessly on your vision, pouring countless hours into a project that feels like a child you’re nurturing. The stakes are high, and every decision feels monumental. You face the constant pressure of securing funding, juggling budgets, and steering through unpredictable market shifts. It’s a journey filled with long nights and moments of doubt, but also with bursts of triumph and discovery. The weight of responsibility can strain relationships and lead to burnout, but it's balanced by the drive to make a difference and the joy of seeing your dreams come to life. This personal journey, full of highs and lows, underscores the need for support and self-care. To all startup founders: your journey is filled with incredible highs and daunting challenges. Remember to take time for yourself and seek support when needed. Your passion and dedication are what drive innovation, but maintaining your well-being is crucial for long-term success. Keep pushing forward, and know that your resilience is truly inspiring. #startup #founders

Some Friday fuel for budding founders! 🌟✨ As we wrap up another week of catalysing innovation, let's take a moment to revisit some nuggets of wisdom from Janne Heikkinen, CEO and co-founder of our portfolio company SpinDrive. Here are Janne’s golden tips to new founders, for navigating early startup challenges: 🚀 👉 Embrace diversity in skills and perspectives within your team. Incorporating diverse expertise could accelerate progress. Recognise the importance of different fields of expertise and be open to filling gaps from both within and outside the team. Don’t overlook essential functions. 🌍 👉 Strive for diversity also in your team composition. Diversity in gender, culture, age, and education fosters creativity, innovation, and broader perspectives. 🎨 👉 Prioritise customer-centricity. Listen attentively to your target market, develop solutions that align with their requirements, and build your business around fulfilling those needs. The driving force for innovation should stem from customers, not investors. 👂 👉 Establish clear decision-making processes by avoiding equal stakes among all founders. Instead, consider distributing shares unequally, with one or two individuals holding a larger stake and the final decision-making authority. ⚖️🔑👉 Be super selective with founders. You don’t want to dilute your ownership by having too many founders. Definitely, you want to avoid having any hang-around founders who do not bring their heart and soul to the table. ❤️ 👉 View crises as potential opportunities. Stay agile, adapt quickly, and capitalise on unexpected circumstances. Unlike larger organisations, startups can pivot rapidly to seize advantages. Stay alert, identify openings, and use crises to your advantage. 🔄 👉 Remember that cash flow is king. Regardless of your business's size or stage of growth, maintaining healthy cash flow is crucial for sustainability and growth. 💸 For a deeper dive into Janne’s insights and more about his founder journey, check out his full interview via the link in the comments. #StartupLife #StartupTips #FounderJourney #entrepreneurship

Do you really "Own" what you have started? Recently, I had a conversation with two founders about the possible reasons for slow or lack of growth in their ventures. We were trying to figure out why this was happening. And when I asked them, Do you really own what you are doing currently? Surprisingly, the answer was "Silence". A startup's journey is full of ups and downs, pivots, market shifts, industry shifts, PMF, motivation-demotivation, new tech eruption and beating the competition. Over this course, founders experience many uncertain situations and continuous changes just to realize they have gone far away from where they have started and with what "Purpose" Sometimes, it results in - Loss of interest, - Continuous hunt for "what I really like/love to do?" - Totally building something new, scrapping the old work. - Venturing into a new industry This change, of course, is not only hard but the riskiest thing in the startup life. All this while, without even realizing it, founders keep losing current business and customers and always put their financial status at risk (personal and company). And when finance is at stake, you really don't have the liberty to do anything new. In the battle between interest and disinterest, "Business always loses." The primary responsibility of startups and businesses is to generate revenue, survive, grow, and thrive. But eventually "Not Owning" what you really do, is the biggest reason for lack of growth and sustainability. Business is a real thing, deal it with maturity not just like a passion project. Founders should save their energy to make it work by adopting the good and bad. Because what matters for business is Revenue, Survival, and Success. #startup #success #founders #business

A founder ghosted me 😢 It was a company I had been trying to connect with for a while. I finally had somebody in my network tell me they could introduce me. I spoke to the founder for an hour, diving deep into the business, strategy, and potential. We wrapped up with a mutual agreement that I would invest, but he needed to circle back to finalize the allocation amount. - One day passed. I followed up. - Five days passed. I followed up again. - Two weeks passed. I followed up once more. -Now, it’s been a month, and still nothing (I did try to follow up for the fourth time ) It’s easy to get frustrated when this happens, especially after a conversation that felt so promising. But then, I started thinking about why this might have happened. Maybe the founder is overwhelmed, maybe they found another investor, or maybe they just changed their mind. Sometimes, a deal not happening isn’t a failure—it’s just not the right time or the right fit. And that’s okay. In the fast-paced world of startups, things can change overnight. A founder might pivot, decide to bootstrap or find another opportunity that aligns better with their vision. The lesson here? Stay flexible, keep the big picture in mind, and don’t take it personally. What might seem like a lost deal today could very well be an opportunity for something better tomorrow. As investors, we have to be ready for the twists and turns—and sometimes, the best move is to take a step back and wait for the right moment to strike. So, to the founder who ghosted me—no hard feelings. Maybe our paths will cross again, or maybe they won’t. But either way, I’m still here, ready for the next conversation when the time is right. For now, onto the next opportunity. #startups #venturecapital #investment #founders #relationships #entrepreneurship

I walked into the boardroom and began sharing my thoughts with my team about our goals for the year, reminding them of the company's vision and mission. The room was filled with a high-energy team of skilled individuals, including department heads like CEOs, VPs, and Directors. They listened to me with full dedication, their energy visible in their eyes like a military force awaiting orders for battle. They eagerly awaited the next quarterly goal as I called each of them by name and outlined their targets. Instead of doubts or concerns, they were ready to achieve any target, surpassing my expectations. As I finished my speech, they applauded and we celebrated with hugs. However, upon waking up, I realized it was just a dream. Why am I sharing this? Because while I dream of achieving something, there are many who aren't even dreaming. They think: I want to be an entrepreneur but I don’t have money. I want to start a startup but I don't have a unique idea. I want to be a founder but I don't have investors for my idea. I want to be an entrepreneur but I don't have a skilled team. I want to start a business but don't know how to use technology or develop a product. I want to be my own boss but I don't have either money or time. These people are not dreamers; they are wishers. They wait for someone to hand them everything on a platter. They wait for investors to come with a bag of money and say, "Here, use it however you want." They keep changing ideas without commitment, wasting investors' money. True dreamers don't take years to make a startup profitable. They are passionate and turn profitable within a few years. Those who can't even pay salaries after a decade are just wishes, not dreamers. What do you have to say about such people or startups? Share your thoughts in the comments. I understand you want to comment but you won't. But let's see who has the courage to speak up the truth of startups and their owners. #DreamersVsWishers #EntrepreneurshipJourney #StartupLife #PassionAndCommitment #AchieveYourDreams #DareToDreamBig #SuccessMindset #TakeActionNow #CourageToDream #InvestInYourDreams