"Your pitch deck isn’t your business card."
Hailing from Australia, Sammy Courtright is the co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Ten Spot, an all-in-one platform that helps companies connect, engage and manage remote and on-site employees. With a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Miami, Sammy is a certified Pilates instructor who brings a blend of grit and imagination to the zillions of tasks that confront every startup. While she wears many hats, Sammy’s passion for building culture has created an atmosphere at Ten Spot dedicated to positive thinking and collaboration.
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Table of Contents
Thank you for joining us today. Please introduce yourself to our readers. They want to know you, some of the background story to bring some context to your interview.
Sammy Courtright: I’ve always been very creatively inclined, and in school, I studied theatre. However, at the same time, there’s always been part of my brain hyper-focused on solving problems. Anytime I go into a restaurant or a store, I find myself thinking about all the ways it could be more efficient and scalable, and have even emailed the owners with my ideas (I know, I am that person). That is how I met Jon, my co-founder. Mutual friends introduced us and once I heard about what he was working on, I started telling him all the ideas I had to make it scale.
You are a successful entrepreneur, so we’d like your viewpoint, do you believe entrepreneurs are born or made? Explain.
Sammy Courtright: Entrepreneurs are hustlers. They have to have the will to get up every day and keep pushing. I don’t think hustle can be taught. However, I do think other aspects of entrepreneurship can be taught.
If you were asked to describe yourself as an entrepreneur in a few words, what would you say?
Sammy Courtright: Empathetic. Unwavering perseverance. And sometimes to a fault, unwilling to settle.
Tell us about what your company does and how did it change over the years?
Sammy Courtright: After finding it frustrating to stay healthy in a typical 9-to-5 environment, my co-founder Jonathan Cohn and I teamed up in 2014 to create Fitspot, whose mission was to deliver wellness where employees needed it the most — at work. Even before Covid-19 hit, we had plans to rename the company Ten Spot (and did so in 2020) to expand beyond wellness to offer a centralized solution for workforces to increase their productivity, boost retention, and build a strong culture. Then, when COVID hit, we learned that customers were facing a similar issue: how do we ensure employees feel like they work for the same company when they are not in the same place? Through research, we discovered that leadership was struggling to manage distributed teams. This led to Ten Spot’s expansion to the workforce engagement platform it is today.
Thank you for all that. Now for the main focus of this interview. With close to 11.000 new businesses registered daily in the US, what must an entrepreneur assume when starting a business?
Sammy Courtright: When entrepreneurs are starting a business, they need to assume that it’s going to be an uncomfortable time. One of the pieces of advice I’ve given entrepreneurs is to be comfortable selling something that is not perfect. Initially, this concept stressed me out. How could I ever put something in front of a prospect that wasn’t up to my standard?! Then I had to ask myself: what is worse? A new customer interacting with a not-so-perfect feature or no customer at all? Again, it’s uncomfortable to be transparent with customers and prospects that your product is always evolving, but it’s better than missing out on an opportunity to close new business.
Did you make any wrong assumptions before starting a business that you ended up paying dearly for?
Sammy Courtright: I make mistakes daily but the cost is usually associated with time. When we were first getting started in 2016, I assumed we needed to have a full-blown team constructed and ready to roll. Luckily, I quickly learned that was not the case. You add folks as you need to. My co-founder and I have now performed every function at the company… some not as well as others but well enough to understand what is required to make sound hiring decisions.
If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what advice would you give yourself and why? Explain.
Sammy Courtright: A couple of years ago I was sitting in a cafe in New York, having a cup of coffee, and some guy I’d never met before approached me and said, “Sammy?” I was thinking, “I’ve never met this person before…right?” and replied, “Yeah?” And he said, “Ten Spot, right? My friend’s cousin sent me your pitch deck.” Moral of the story: your pitch deck isn’t your business card. Always make sure to keep track of who has your pitch deck, and let them know they should check in with you before sharing it with others!
What is the worst advice you received regarding running a business and what lesson would you like others to learn from your experience?
Sammy Courtright: Starting a new business, we had to work through endless decisions and details. A piece of advice that came through was to reevaluate our company’s structure regarding internal meetings and goal setting. We quickly learned we were too early to take on a more structured approach, and we lost the spontaneity. It turned out the best way to run our internal processes was what we were doing before, and while it didn’t work out, I’m glad we tried changing it up because we took some crucial learnings with us when we reverted to our previous approach. Ultimately, you have to try out new ideas but inevitably don’t implement something because larger, super successful companies do it. Consider what is best for your company at the stage you’re in and do it. You will feel when it is right to adjust and adjust quickly.
In your opinion, how has COVID-19 changed what entrepreneurs should assume before starting a business? What hasn’t changed?
Sammy Courtright: Entrepreneurs should assume that they can hire incredible talent from every corner of the globe. We all know this was possible before COVID but the pandemic has enabled companies to hire talent with no geographical limits. If you’re starting a business and considering fundraising it is important to acknowledge that most meetings might be virtual. This means that you need to have your pitch down to a perfect science and get comfortable engaging with funds/VCs virtually.
What is a common myth about entrepreneurship that aspiring entrepreneurs and would-be business owners believe in? What advice would you give them?
Sammy Courtright: One common myth is “all you need is a good idea” but the thing is, if you’ve had the idea it’s likely someone else has probably had the idea as well. My advice is that every good idea should be followed by doing research. A couple of questions you need to answer are: is the market you’re selling to large enough? Does it have momentum? Become the expert in your industry, the ‘know-it-all.’ When you’re in the early stages, it’s tempting to cut corners, but research is crucial and so helpful. I always check out other companies in our space and attend webinars on relevant topics because it only makes our product better.
What traits, qualities, and assumptions do you believe are most important to have before starting a business?
Sammy Courtright: I am direct and enjoy leading by example. I’ve learned when to delegate tasks and spearhead specific projects, but I also like staying involved and showing my team that I am hands-on and willing to help them too. A great example is when we recently tested a new idea. We tend to test many different initiatives to quickly learn what is working and, more importantly, what isn’t. This particular test was exceptionally successful. To the point where most of my colleagues had to drop everything that they were doing to successfully deliver on the insane amount of interest we received. We set a daily check-in to review the status of critical items, deliverable dates, and next steps to ensure that we were addressing any potential roadblocks head-on and aligning with the objective.
From leadership to interns, it was all hands on deck. There was no time for miscommunication, so everyone was succinct and direct. There was unspoken respect fostered amongst the team because everyone was working just as hard as the next person around a common mission. This reminded me to take these wonderful learnings and energy to all upcoming initiatives. Although this felt like a fire drill, every task can be approached with the same urgency and enthusiasm at an early-stage startup.
How can aspiring leaders prepare themselves for the future challenges of entrepreneurship? Are there any books, websites, or even movies to learn from?
Sammy Courtright: I received a subscription to Masterclass and I have enjoyed several of the programs that are offered. Even some of the classes that don’t feel like they directly correlate to running a business add value. I recently finished Serena Williams’ course. While the lessons are centered on tennis technique, there is a focus on mental wellness. Tennis is an individual sport and it is easy to get in your head. Many founders who start businesses can relate to this challenge. But, even though the rejections and setbacks, it is important to maintain a winners mentality and to prioritize your mental health.
A great book that explores entrepreneurship and being a founder is “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” (Ben Horowitz) — if you want a taste of what a founder goes through when starting a business, pick up this book. Another great book is “Never Split the Difference” (Chris Voss) because there are skills you can learn outside of any formal education, and negotiation is one of those. It’s one of the best books I’ve read over the last few years because negotiation comes in all shapes and sizes and occurs in all types of everyday situations–whether we realize it or not. I’ve learned so many invaluable techniques. I am mad I didn’t read this earlier in my career (*cue time machine*.) Chris also runs a great class on Masterclass.
You have shared quite a bit of your wisdom and our readers thank you for your generosity but would also love to know: If you could choose any job other than being an entrepreneur, what would it be?
Sammy Courtright: One of my favorite classes in college was Psychology. While I didn’t pursue that career path, I have a huge amount of respect for mental health clinicians.
Thank you so much for your time, I believe I speak for all of our readers when I say that this has been incredibly insightful. We do have one more question: If you could add anyone to Mount Rushmore, but not a politician, who would it be; why?
Sammy Courtright: Cousin Greg’ from ‘Succession’. Not Nicholas Braun, the actor who plays Greg, but Greg the character.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Sammy Courtright for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Sammy Courtright or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
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