Purpose First Entrepreneur: A Conversation with 4 Unicorn Founders

Purpose First Entrepreneur Event American Inno

By Jim Dallke - Senior Editor, Chicago Inno

November 05, 2021, 03:05pm CDT

On Wednesday, American Inno hosted a virtual event with four unicorn tech founders about how they turned their purpose into business success.

Moderated by Hyde Park Angels managing director Pete Wilkins, who's also the author of Purpose First Entrepreneur, the event featured Godard Abel, the co-founder and CEO of G2; Kristi Ross, the co-founder and co-CEO of tastytrade; Divey Gulati, the co-founder of ShipBob; and Jason VandeBoom, the founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign.

The founders came to the event with a range of professional backgrounds. Abel, a serial entrepreneur, has created several successful businesses before G2 became a unicorn. VandeBoom founded ActiveCampaign in 2003, building the marketing tech firm into a $3 billion business today. Ross exited tastytrade for $1 billion earlier this year. And Gulati's work turning ShipBob into a unicorn is the only job he's ever had.

Along with these founders' shared unicorn success is their desire to build a purpose-first company culture, and a determination to put that purpose to work each day.

ShipBob's purpose began in 2014 when Gulati and his team would stand outside a Chicago post office and convince small-business owners to use their shipping services rather than waiting in line at the post office. Understanding the specific needs of your customers, and how to make their lives easier, formed the startup's purpose early on.

"I think the inspiration we get by talking to these merchants and understanding their pain points, that's shaping the future roadmap of the company," Gulati said. "And even for us, we are becoming better entrepreneurs ourselves by talking to these people because they give us inspiration on a daily basis."

"It's about building the culture of people, putting the customer first," Ross said. "That is what is important. That's the reason we're there at the end of the day. And the other piece of that is teaching that every customer is equal, whether they have $200 in their account or two million ... What we have done is created that culture where it's just about authentic interactions and connecting with people."

Abel admitted he was filled with anxiety and fear early in his career, but things like meditation, self-awareness and being reflective about yourself helped him become a better leader and lower his anxiety. 

"My company felt like a storm cloud of anxiety on my forehead," he said. "My father was my first investor. I was afraid of losing his money and went through a lot of hard times. I had to let people go and I was afraid it would ruin my friends' careers. And so it was just a very anxious journey and I couldn't really enjoy my life during that time."

Learning about conscious leadership, Abel said, helped him overcome this.

For Gulati, one of his own personal values is to surround himself with people who are smarter than him, and learn what they're doing differently and how he can grow from their experience.

"I'm trying to surround myself with people who may not be in the same field, but they're excelling in their own fields, in their own way, and just learn from them," he said. "What is different about them, what makes them special?"

"[Like] people who are maybe really good at music," he continued. "I don't need to be good at music, but what drives their purpose? Why is the key? ... Once you get into that, you'll find your own way and that drives you forward and that gives you purpose."

This article originally appeared on the Chicago Inno Blog and has been reproduced with permission from the author.

Click here to see a recording of the conversation.