# 1 — Letting go, and trusting your team to run with it

I have a deep passion for helping first time founders by sharing my own experiences as they progress through their incredibly tough journey of building a startup.

Even today, 20 years+ since I founded my first business, and after 3 exits, I find myself learning from others and having ‘aha’ moments weekly.

I’ve decided to start a series of posts (maybe some videos if I’m brave enough), that share experiences and tips from my past as well as my current journey with Ramp, and I’ll bring in some guest writers along the way.

# 1 — Letting go, trust your team to run with it

One of my biggest weaknesses has always been an inability to let go, under the false belief that I can do it better and faster. It’s a founders curse, we always need to be in control, and it’s difficult to trust others.

The problem with this is as much as you believe just doing things yourself is faster and better, you get caught up with the day-to-day stuff, and before you know it, your day / week / month is filled with work you should be leaning on your team for. Work that is stopping you from focussing on the bigger picture and moving the business forward.

You are not alone! Almost every founder I’ve engaged with has experienced this at some point in their career.

I had an experience recently, where a new hire (less than a month after starting) offered to take a big project off my desk, and my first reaction, was “don’t worry, I’ve got this”. A few minutes after our call, he pinged me on Slack and held me accountable to one of my goals, ‘letting go’. He took it on, and of course delivered! Why? For two reasons; 1. we have an open communication policy of being candid and sharing our personal goals, and 2. I hired him because he’s incredible at what he does.

Surround yourself by people you can trust, and who are aligned with your vision and you will never go wrong.

Don’t forget to let go!

I love this quote by Jo Miller

Let go of fear, trust your people, dare them to go for it, and get energized by what you can create together.