At most companies, there’s no shortage of ideas. The hard part? Executing on them.

This isn’t a new challenge. Over half of employees said their company failed to act on good ideas.

It affects companies of all sizes, even Amazon. To avoid analysis paralysis, Jeff Bezos drilled a powerful mantra into his team — “bias for action.” Amazon leaders are expected to make tough decisions and act on them, even if the outcome is uncertain. Risks aren’t just tolerated — they’re encouraged.

But that’s just one strategy for turning innovation into execution. As the founder and CEO of a company that recently passed $1 billion in annual revenue, here are a few key lessons I’ve learned along the way on the art of “gettin’ r done.”

Related: How to Be an Industry Leader and Innovator

1. Get customers in the loop, early and often

Companies that want to close the gap between innovation and execution will not succeed without listening to their customers.

As a teenager, I worked in Mac customer support while also developing Mac applications on the side. Watching people use software — and seeing what confused them and what didn’t — yielded a powerful insight into creating it. Getting customers in the loop makes innovation happen faster.

When I started building my POS company, I spent a lot of time with customers each week, delivering new versions of our software for them to test and then implementing their suggestions. That showed us whether we were innovating in the right direction or building features that did nothing for the customer.

Too many startups skip that step. Because they never watch anyone use their software, they don’t understand how customers actually work. That’s a big oversight, given that customer-obsessed companies grow revenue and profit about 30% faster.

As a company scales, it’s key to preserve those intimate feedback moments with customers. For example, I recently held a gathering with retail clients to learn how they track conversion of social media ads to in-store results. That meeting led directly to a product conversation with my team.

2. Take a regular, company-wide pulse check on excitement

For leaders, a big part of turning ideas into action is getting everyone’s buy-in.

At my company, we do that with a Quarterly Product Review. All product groups share what they’ve completed and are working on that quarter with the entire team, from sales to marketing to customer support. This open session is a chance for the product folks to present a project that might be a little risky — and get a wide range of perspectives on whether to pursue it.

Essentially, it’s an excitement barometer. What is everybody most enthusiastic about, and what do they think will excite the market? Just as importantly, which “promising” new ideas elicit yawns or even cringes from the larger team? Getting that feedback early on is critical.

With this kind of pulse check, part of the goal is to make your company an organism whose parts are deeply interdependent. After all, sales is relying on the success of a new product to hit its target for the year, so it’s in everyone’s interest to help each other. The more collaboration and alignment there is between teams, the better that product launch should be.

Rowing together pays off. Companies with highly aligned teams are roughly 70% more profitable than their unaligned peers. They’re also more than twice as likely to retain customers and more than three times as likely to satisfy them.

Related: Be an Innovative Leader or Risk Your Company’s Longevity

3. Extend real ownership to individual teams

Good leaders know that when it comes to moving from ideas to execution, there’s a difference between motivating people and micromanaging them.

The other day, I sat down with my company’s design team to review our mobile selling tools. Having built mobile products myself for 15 years as we grew the company, this was my forte. It would have been easy for me to take over the meeting with my vision for the product.

But that’s not how you scale a business — and it certainly isn’t how you motivate employees. Rather than seize the well-deserved ownership I’ve given the design team, I was there to encourage them by showing genuine interest in what they were doing.

Giving people ownership helps get things done. In companies that are strong on execution, roughly 70% of employees agree that everyone has a good idea of the decisions and actions they’re responsible for, versus only about 30% in those weak on execution.

4. Don’t abdicate your larger role as head cheerleader

Taking ownership is one thing, but people need to know that their leader is invested too.

When I think about good ideas that didn’t work out for our company, often it was because team members didn’t feel I was all-in with them. Leaders must be careful not to starve innovations of the energy and attention they need to move past the drawing board.

During that crucial middle stage, a project needs fuel — and I don’t just mean throwing bodies and resources at it. Here, the most potent fuel a leader can provide is enthusiasm for seeing the team succeed. That kind of excitement is contagious. People know that when they deliver, not only will it be a career win, but their boss will join them in celebrating that success.

For team members, that acknowledgment matters. Four out of 10 workers would put more energy into their work if their company recognized them more often, while six out of 10 who feel recognized are highly unlikely to look for a new job.

Related: 5 Tips for Managing a Virtual Team

5. You can never have too many dashboards

Want to excel at execution? You can’t improve something if you can’t measure it.

Our company has always had sales roots, so metrics are in our DNA. As part of that culture of accountability, our offices are packed with dashboards showing key performance indicators (KPIs). Ultimately, it comes back to ownership. People are responsible for their KPIs, and they expect their colleagues to do the same.

Across departments, all of those KPIs roll up to seven main ones representing company priorities — for example, the share of customers that have converted to using our payment tools. Thanks to that alignment, everyone is working toward goals that will move the needle.

Yes, at times the emphasis on seeing and hitting numbers can feel overbearing or even tedious. But it’s no accident that only two years after launching our payments services, it now accounts for almost 40% of our annual transaction volume.

Overall, data-driven companies have a serious advantage — in fact, they’re almost 60% more likely to beat revenue targets.

Bridging the gap between innovation and execution may not be easy for leaders, but it isn’t rocket science either. By getting team members and customers onboard and measuring results, companies can transform a good idea into a great business move.

Spend enough time building companies, and in my case, navigating both medicine and entrepreneurship, and a counterintuitive pattern begins to emerge. The people who consistently deliver are not the ones operating in a state of constant visible intensity.

In fact, many of the highest-performing founders I’ve encountered appear surprisingly controlled. Sometimes even uneventful from the outside.

The separation happens in quieter ways.

It reveals itself in how they protect attention, structure decisions and preserve energy for moments that genuinely matter. These are not dramatic habits. They are small, repeatable behaviors that compound silently while nobody is paying attention.

Over time, I’ve come to believe that in high-pressure environments, habits become infrastructure. And entrepreneurs who consciously build that infrastructure create an advantage that is extraordinarily difficult to replicate.

1. I’ve learned that attention is a precious resource.

Earlier in my entrepreneurial journey, I believed responsiveness was synonymous with effectiveness. Every message deserved attention. Every meeting felt important. Every opportunity seemed urgent.

That instinct becomes expensive very quickly.

Over time, I developed the discipline of deliberate non-engagement. I let things pass. I delay responses. I opt out of conversations that do not meaningfully influence outcomes.

This is not simply about selectivity. It is about cognitive preservation.

Every input competes for mental bandwidth. When attention becomes fragmented, thinking loses depth. Decision-making becomes reactive rather than strategic.

Some of the most effective entrepreneurs I know are exceptionally disciplined about what they refuse to engage with. They understand that clarity is achieved by filtering aggressively and protecting attention with intention.

2. I integrate thinking directly into execution.

There is a common assumption that meaningful thinking happens away from work, during retreats, long breaks or isolated strategy sessions. My experience has been different.

Some of the clearest strategic insights I’ve had emerged in the middle of execution itself: between meetings, immediately after difficult conversations, during transitions between decisions.

I’ve learned to create deliberate micro-pauses throughout the day. Brief moments to question assumptions, reassess direction and examine whether momentum is still aligned with purpose. Without those interruptions, execution continues, but direction quietly deteriorates. Decisions become incremental. Activity increases while clarity declines.

In medicine, this distinction matters enormously. A clinician moving quickly without periodically reassessing the situation can continue executing flawlessly in the wrong direction. Entrepreneurship is not very different. The discipline is not in stepping away from execution entirely. It is in embedding reflection inside it.

3. I design my days to reduce friction.

For years, I optimized aggressively for output. More meetings. More calls. More visible productivity. It felt efficient. It was not sustainable.

The real shift came when I stopped asking, “How do I get more done?” and started asking, “How do I make important work easier to sustain consistently?” That subtle distinction changed how I operate. I simplified recurring decisions. I standardized workflows. I removed unnecessary complexity from my day. I became far more intentional about where cognitive energy was being spent. Over time, the day itself began to feel lighter, despite the workload remaining demanding.

This principle is deeply connected to behavioral science. Human beings consistently underestimate the effect of friction on execution. Even small amounts of unnecessary complexity quietly drain decision quality over time.

When execution becomes smoother, energy is preserved. When energy is preserved, judgment improves.

The entrepreneurs who sustain performance over long periods are often not working less. They are operating inside systems designed to reduce unnecessary resistance.

4. I stay uncomfortably close to reality.

As organizations grow, abstraction becomes seductive. Dashboards replace direct observation. Summaries replace raw information. Layers absorb operational complexity. Distance begins to feel efficient. I’ve learned to resist that instinct deliberately.

Even today, I make it a point to stay close to customer conversations, unfiltered feedback, operational friction points and the realities of execution on the ground. In healthcare, distance from reality can become dangerous very quickly. Clinical decisions made from incomplete or abstracted information carry consequences. I’ve found the same principle applies to leadership and innovation.

The founders who remain closely connected to what is actually happening tend to make fewer unforced errors. Their judgment sharpens because it remains grounded in reality rather than interpretation. As companies scale, proximity becomes uncomfortable. But it also becomes incredibly valuable.

5. I protect energy through deliberate, short resets.

Burnout is often discussed as a function of long hours, with recovery framed primarily as vacations or extended time away. I think the issue is more immediate and more physiological than that.

Over the years, I’ve become increasingly deliberate about building short resets into the middle of demanding days. A pause between meetings. A brief walk before a major decision. A few minutes of silence after an intense interaction. These moments appear insignificant in isolation. Their cumulative effect is substantial.

Without resets, cognitive residue accumulates. Attention narrows. Emotional regulation weakens. Decisions become rushed without us fully realizing it. Harvard Business Review says that it’s important to “create several moments to pause over the course of your workday. By doing so, there will be a cumulative benefit, as you’ll be able to more effectively manage your energy and capacity, helping you to be more resilient.”

I’ve found that a few intentional minutes of recalibration can restore clarity more effectively than pushing through another uninterrupted hour.

The advantage few people talk about

None of these habits is particularly complicated. They do not require sophisticated tools, large teams or dramatic lifestyle overhauls. That is precisely why they are often underestimated.

Most entrepreneurs search for leverage in strategy, funding, technology or talent. Those variables matter immensely. But daily operating behavior quietly determines how effectively those advantages are ultimately used. Over time, the divergence compounds.

One founder operates in a state of constant reaction. Another operates with protected attention, preserved energy and deliberate clarity. Across decisions, across quarters, across years, that difference becomes profound.

Where I would start

If my own journey across medicine, innovation and entrepreneurship has taught me anything, it is that meaningful change rarely begins dramatically. It begins precisely.

Ignore one unnecessary input. Remove one source of friction. Create one intentional pause inside the day. Then observe what changes. Small adjustments, repeated consistently, reshape how we operate. And ultimately, how we operate shapes what we build.

Entrepreneurship celebrates visible milestones, funding rounds, launches, acquisitions and public wins. But the foundations of those outcomes are usually far less visible.

They exist in the quiet architecture of the day. In the systems that either preserve energy or quietly deplete it. The entrepreneurs who separate themselves over time do so because they learn to operate differently, long before anyone notices.

On the heels of my business’s 10-year anniversary, I’ve been reflecting on the journey and the many lessons I’ve learned in my decade as CEO. Below, I’ll share the ten most profound takeaways — the ones I wish I’d known in the early days of entrepreneurship. Apply them to your journey if you’re on a similar path!

1. Have clear expectations and consistent accountability

In my mind, these two factors are the foundation of successful leadership. Without clear expectations, your team members might not understand what you actually want from them, and their definition of success may not align with yours. Without consistent accountability, they won’t meet those expectations and will have a harder time learning how to improve.

Establishing clear, consistent communication ensures everyone is on the same page and moving towards the same goals.

Related: I Wish I Knew These Four Things Before Starting My Own Business

2. Understand evolution vs. revolution for leadership hires

When it comes to hiring for leadership roles, make sure you understand the roles you actually need. My best advice is this: Hire a manager when you need evolution and an executive when you need revolution.

I’ve learned (the hard way!) that all leadership hires are not created equal. A growing organization will eventually need both, but understanding whether you’re looking for evolution or revolution will help you make more strategic hiring decisions.

3. Know that company culture runs deeper than “fun”

Fun is an element of company culture, and I do believe you should invest in it — whether that’s through team breakfasts, team outings or other activities beyond just work. But true culture is about creating an environment where everyone feels valued and supported, and that goes beyond just having a good time together.

If you want to foster a company culture that doesn’t rely on throwing parties or catering lunches, be mindful of the little things, too: how your leadership team answers hard questions, how you balance transparency with protecting your team from hard truths and how you treat people day-to-day. Your employees will notice all of these details, and they really add up.

4. Expect everything to cost twice as much and take twice as long

Over the years, I’ve come to expect everything — from new projects to hiring decisions to new products — to take longer and cost more than I expect. And even when I try to apply this lesson ahead of time, I’m still likely to underestimate.

Planning with this principle in mind can help manage expectations and reduce frustration when things don’t go exactly as planned. A buffer is a good thing!

5. Hire a coach

My two co-founders and I started working with an executive coach about eight years into running the business, and I wish we’d done it sooner.

Coaches help you find your leadership blind spots, offer an impartial sounding board when you face challenges and help other members of your team level up alongside you. It may take time to find the right person for your needs, but in my experience, it was worth the effort.

Related: 8 Important Lessons From Leading Entrepreneurs

6. Co-founders are everything

Co-founders are the people with whom you can share your truest experiences: your deepest fears, your most outlandish concerns and your greatest triumphs. A strong co-founder relationship is crucial for enduring the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

Find the right people to hold you accountable, balance out your skill set and make the experience of running a business a little less grueling.

7. It sucks, but it gets better

In Lemonlight’s early years, I was regularly working 14-hour days, putting out constant fires and feeling like my to-do list was never-ending. Today, the company runs pretty smoothly with the structures and people we have in place, allowing me to focus on big-picture thinking and finding areas where my expertise is helpful.

I won’t sugarcoat it: Starting a business is hard. But if you just take it one day at a time, it really does get easier.

8. A little progress every day is impactful

Speaking of taking it one day at a time, little progress every day adds up. We’ve had days where the wins and milestones were especially noticeable, but most of the last 10 years has just been moving the needle forward a little bit at a time.

Ten years later, somehow that amounts to 20,000+ videos, 5,000+ clients and 150+ team members. The progress isn’t always noticeable, but it’s always there. Consistency is powerful!

9. Financial acumen is important

Having solid finances is a major component of entrepreneurship, and while it’s important to find experts you trust to support you, it’s also essential to have some personal understanding of your business’s finances.

Being able to read and understand your primary financial statements, track your key performance indicators and move the needle towards your financial goals is invaluable. Don’t just trust someone else to get it right, especially early on when you probably can’t afford world-class help.

Related: 4 Lessons That Most Successful Entrepreneurs Had to Learn the Hard Way

10. You don’t save money if you spend it elsewhere

In the early years at Lemonlight, we were conscious of every dollar we spent, but we had a bad habit of “saving” money in one area only to spend it in an unproductive way elsewhere. We’d pat ourselves on the back for cutting costs, but that money wasn’t actually helping our bottom line.

If you find an opportunity to save money, make sure those savings stay saved — or, at the very least, they’re spent on something with real value. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’ve done a great job just to waste that money somewhere else. Real savings should strengthen your business, not just get shuffled around.

Entrepreneurship may be framed as a solo effort, but the reality is you don’t have to figure everything out on your own. I hope these lessons from my business can help you skip some of the uncertainty in yours, making progress without quite as many roadblocks.

Entrepreneurship is a wild ride, and it’s not for the faint of heart. If you are reading this article, you were born to shake things up and pave your own way. And as some of the most successful entrepreneurs in history have said, the key to success is to just start. Here are 15 inspiring lessons from legendary entrepreneurs.

Need more than inspiration? Book a one-on-one session with the founders of some of the most successful startups like Reddit, Drybar, Nextdoor and more.

1. “Just start.” — Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup

The hardest part of any journey is the first step, so why not just take it and see where it leads? Don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect idea. If you don’t start, you’ll never finish.

2. “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” — Sheryl Sandberg, COO at Meta

Turn fear into your motivation. Strive for more.

3. “The biggest risk is not taking any risk.” — Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook

Taking risks is like jumping into a cold plunge—it may be uncomfortable at first. Ultimately, it will help you achieve your goals.

4. “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady

Reach beyond our perceived limitations and strive for greatness.

Related: Sign up for a one-on-one mentor session with a startup expert

You are capable of achieving more than you think is possible. You are probably operating at a 3/10 when you realistically can ramp to an 8/10. With hard work and determination, you can push through any barrier and come out stronger on the other side. So dream big and never give up!

5. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” — Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group

You’ll learn to take the right risks and be prepared for the occasional stumble. After all, there’s no better way to learn than by doing and getting back up again.

6. “If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.” — Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon

Flexibility and stubbornness are both essential traits for entrepreneurs, so make sure to keep them in balance. With the right combination of boldness and patience, you’ll be well on your way to achieving success!

7. “If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Oprah Winfrey, media mogul

You should never give up, no matter how hard the journey may be.

Regardless of the challenges and obstacles that stand in your way, you can find a way to move forward. You all have the power to keep pushing, no matter what.

8. “My life didn’t please me, so I created my life.” — Coco Chanel, fashion icon

You can do anything you set your mind to. Don’t let life just happen to you—make it happen.

9. “Fail often so you can succeed sooner.” — Tom Kelley, IDEO partner

Failure and success are tied. More at-bats will help you iterate faster and learn more. Failing often will help you get closer to success – no matter how small the success, it’s still a step in the right direction.

10. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” — Walt Disney, co-founder of the Walt Disney Company

Put Walt’s words of wisdom into action — stop talking and start doing! Success is within reach if you take the first step and learn from your mistakes along the way.

11. “In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.” – David Ogilvy, advertising executive

We’ve heard this before. Spencer Rascoff preaches that all entrepreneurs need to be salespeople. Able to sell your business, your product, and your company vision.

12. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Abraham Lincoln, former US President

Abraham Lincoln is a man who knew a thing or two about making history.

Don’t wait for life to happen to you, make it happen. It’s a reminder that we’re all capable of creating our own destiny and that the future is ours to mold.

13. “Fearlessness is not the absence of fear. It’s the mastery of fear. It’s about getting up one more time than we fall down.” —Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post

Don’t shy away from fear. Face it head-on.

It’s an ongoing battle of getting up even after life knocks us down.

14. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple

Let’s face it, work takes up a big chunk of our lives, and the only way to make that time meaningful is to do something that you truly believe in.

15. “In whatever you do, you’re not going to stand out unless you think big and have ideas that are truly original. That comes from tapping into your own creativity, not obsessing over what everyone else is doing.” —Sophia Amoruso, founder of Nasty Gal

Making an impact requires more than just following the status quo; it calls for embracing your own innovative ideas. To truly stand out, you must be willing to take risks and unleash your creative potential.

The key is to focus less on what others are doing, and instead aim to generate unique solutions that can make a real difference. Only then will you be able to make a meaningful mark on the world.

Related: Sign up for a one-on-one mentor session with a startup expert

16. “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” — Stephen Covey, author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”

Not an overnight success? Then, you are not making the headlines. It can take time to get things up and running and that is OK.

Don’t be too hard on yourself.

17. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” — Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft

From my time pre-IPO at Uber, Instawork, and Intro, I’ve learned that your customers build your product roadmap. Listen to them.

18. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” — Chinese Proverb

In life, it’s best to take action as soon as possible.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago because it would have had time to grow and mature by now. However, the second best time to plant a tree is now, even though it won’t be as mature as it would have been 20 years ago.

The same goes for any goal or task, the earlier you start, the better the outcome will be, but it’s never too late to start, and the present is always the second-best time to start.