The past year has shown us the importance of mental health and the difficulty of maintaining it under the best of circumstances, to say nothing of the challenge presented by whatever 2020 is. Fortunately, there are those out there who have made it their mission to provide that help through online platforms that offer resources and assistance to those struggling with mental health issues. I am always pleased when entrepreneurs reach out to me with their stories. Recently, I had the chance to speak with Orel Shitrit of Crowns Media, who is based in Israel and six months ago started to provide these types of solutions to those who need them. Check out the tips for founders below – succinct and valuable regardless of your industry or location.
Mary Juetten: What problem are you solving?
Orel Shitrit: I focus on helping teenagers and adults solve their personal issues such as depression and negativity, and provide them with mental health support. I work with them personally on finding their passion and pursuing their goals.
Juetten: How did past projects and/or experience help with this new project?
Shitrit: I have a lot of experience within social media as a Founder of Noble Media & Partners and I am always looking to help and support others, which helped me a lot with the current project.
Juetten: Who is on your team?
Shitrit: We have three team members currently.
Juetten: Startups are an adventure — what’s your favorite startup story?
Shitrit: My favorite startup story is definitely Facebook. It’s an amazing story that can teach a young startup founder a lot about not giving up and continuing to push and work hard even when you think it’s not worth it anymore. Also, Facebook’s story amazes me since it keeps growing and surviving in the social media era. We heard a lot of times about Facebook going down and being replaced by Instagram or other platforms, but it keeps growing.
I would love to add that in order to make your business improve and grow, you must measure it by setting a goal — both a big goal which will be the destination you want your business to reach by a specific date and small goals that make sure you get there eventually. Market share and expansion, being better than my rivals, employees — both in number and growth and in satisfaction — and company growth and personal development are some of the best ways I use to measure my success.
Juetten: What is your favorite success story?
Shitrit: My favorite success story is Elon Musk. Seeing both the amazing work he has done with PayPal and Tesla, plus his determination on SpaceX where he failed again and again but he simply refused to give up and finally made history and succeeded with his rocket launch has been inspiring.
Can you believe he’s now using his Falcon 9 rocket launch and it will be the first time a private company will send humans into orbit? Imagine if he’d given up after the first times he failed with the rocket launches.
Juetten: Any tips to add for early-stage founders?
Shitrit:
1. You’re going to make a lot of mistakes at the start — get a mentor. You won’t believe what the right mentor can do for you and your business.
2. Focus on making other people’s lives better with your product/service. You must offer a solution to a problem and be the best at that solution.
3. Take care of your customers and employees’ satisfaction, all the time.
4. Make sure you know and trust your team. Don’t get started on this long journey with people you don’t trust or don’t feel comfortable with.
5. When pitching investors, don’t let yourself get to a point when they ask a question and you say “I don’t know”. How does it look if you don’t know questions about your own business? Study everything you think they might ask and practice with your family/friends acting as the investors and asking you questions that you didn’t expect.
6. Continually ask for feedback from your investors, customers, and employees. Collecting feedback from those groups shows you value their opinion. Involving them in shaping your business will make them feel more attached to your company. Although you should weigh all the feedback you get, do not make changes based on every single piece of feedback; only adopt what you believe is most valuable for your company and your needs.
Juetten: What’s the long-term vision for your company?
Shitrit: My long term vision for the company is to keep actively growing while also supporting customers with their daily issues and mental health problems. I want to get them to a place where they can chase their dreams with no doubts. My personal goal is to make the world a better place because I was here and because we all deserve it.
I think we can all aspire to try and make the world a better place in ways big and small. Thank you to Orel for taking the time to talk with me.