Many panels tell you a lot about entrepreneurship and what it takes to be a strong entrepreneur. While traits like persistence, grit, and your ability to adapt and pivot are important, what I have found in the earliest stages that can make or break your startup is who you let in from team members to who you choose as investors.

In the earlier days it may seem like you don’t have a choice in these matters because you just want to get started. But you always have a choice, and it’s important to be really clear on what type of company you want to build beyond your product because it truly determines who you bring on. The people you bring on determine how you make decisions about the pivots you make, when to go fast vs. when to go slow, and most importantly whether what you are working on is worth anyone’s time.

Through David Ko’s Stern Venture Fellows program, David gave us the opportunity to learn from various entrepreneurs with a week out in San Francisco. They all had a different style of leading, operating, financing and in turn created successful ventures that made a dent in the world.

After leading digital product at multiple media and tech companies, I had learned how to have persistence, grit, and pivot. But, through the opportunity that David Ko gave Break Sports, I was able to gain confidence in the way I lead, the way that I hire, the way that we raise, and the way we build a new type of sports company that embodies the true values of athletes to come together, work as a team, and create greater access to sports.