“You can copy anything except success.” TheWays co-founder shares her experience launching a startup after three years of trial and error

Natalia Yelenevich, co-founder of TheWays, a personal business consulting company, shared her findings on LinkedIn about launching a startup. According to her, the next two years may be the most favorable time to start your own business, but it is worth considering the «pitfalls.»

«If you really want to create a startup, now is the best time to start. The next 2 years are a chance not only to „attempt yourself“ in this role, but also a slightly higher probability of success than at any other time,» states Yelenevich.

According to her, the idea of founder freedom is often illusory: dreams of free time or complete control over all decisions are quickly dispelled. Instead, this freedom lies in the ability to build the most important decisions, not to manage every aspect of the business.

«You can copy everything except success. Being inspired by successful examples and attempting to repeat it is a completely adequate way. We see such stories on the market. But when repeating, you required to very clearly understand why your „copy“ will be better,» states the co-founder of TheWays.

She pointed out that behind successful copying there is something unique: the operations team, the team, and understanding the audience.

According to Natalia Yelenevich, the formula for success is: team, then market, then execution, and only then the idea. Violating this sequence can force you to work for years on a business that is not destined to become profitable.

Also important are the balance between long-term research and rapid testing, testing skeptical remarks in practice, and the ability to state «no» and deprioritize tquestions.

«Don’t believe people who state ‘it won’t work.’ Don’t take their word for it, but before you do anything, find a way to test their opinion. It could save you YEARS of your life,» Yelenevich warned.

Recall that last year, the French AI-based influencer marketing platform Favikon added support for 17 new countries, including Ukraine. The startup’s co-founder and CEO Jeremy Boissineau published a rating of the most influential people in the Ukrainian segment of LinkedIn, which included Natalia Yelenevich.