Building Startups from the Inside Out: Lessons on Culture, Growth, and Resilience

When I first joined JustPaid, the sales team was pretty much non-existent. No playbooks. No systems. No guarantees. Just potential, ambition, and a big vision to build something meaningful from scratch.

Most people dream of joining a startup once it's already "figured out." Very few get the chance to help shape one from the ground up — to feel the intensity, the uncertainty, and the deep sense of purpose that comes with building something real. This is a glimpse into what I've learned from living that journey firsthand.

The Invisible Engine: Why Culture Matters More Than Metrics (at First)

In the early days of a startup, culture is the product — even before the dashboards, the revenue, or the fancy pitch decks. During those first few months, I realized something powerful: what keeps a team going isn't KPIs — it's trust, communication, and a whole lot of resilience.

At JustPaid, the culture that kept us moving forward wasn't about perks or startup hype. It was about ownership, kindness, grit, and being willing to grow — even when things got uncomfortable. Without that foundation, no amount of sales or code could've saved us.

Lessons from the Front Lines

Ownership Isn't Optional

At an early-stage startup, you don't just do your job — you treat the company's challenges like they're your own. Whether I was cold calling 2,000+ leads, managing CRM workflows, building dashboards, or supporting marketing, I learned one key lesson: impact > job title.

• Build the Process Before You Need It: Doing things manually might work for a bit — but trust me, it doesn't scale. Documenting, standardizing, and automating early saved us hours (and headaches) later. Creating things like our client database (DIGMA), HubSpot reports, and battlecards made a huge difference — and gave us space to grow faster.
• Resilience Is a Skill (and You Can Build It): There were days when calls didn't land, emails were ignored, or targets felt impossible. What helped me wasn't just improving my sales technique — it was building emotional resilience. Learning to see setbacks as signals (not personal failures) changed everything for me — in work and in life.
• Everyone Sells, Everyone Builds: At JustPaid, I wasn't just an SDR or AE. I was part of building the machine — testing ideas, refining messaging, writing content, joining product brainstorms, and repping the brand at events. It wasn't about "selling" — it was about co-creating.

What I'd Tell Any Startup Team

If I could write a note to the next generation of startup builders, it would probably say something like this: Document everything — even if it feels "too early." It never is. Celebrate progress, not just results. Wins are great, but consistency is better. Protect your culture. Hire for values, not just skills. Values scale. Choose collaboration over ego. Building a company is a team sport. Always.

Reflection: Building Myself While Building a Company

The truth is, working at JustPaid didn't just teach me how startups work — it showed me how I work. Through ownership, ambiguity, experimentation, and lots of persistence, I've grown more in these past months than I ever imagined possible.

Mistakes Made & Lessons Learned: What I'd Do Differently

Real growth doesn't happen without a few bumps. And looking back, there are definitely things I'd approach differently:

• Waiting Too Long to Ask for Help: At first, I felt like I had to figure everything out on my own — lists, follow-ups, HubSpot… everything. Now I know that asking for help early (from peers, mentors, or leaders) speeds up learning and builds trust.
• Trying to Perfect Everything Before Taking Action: In a startup, speed matters more than perfection. I spent too much time polishing emails or reports when I should've just tested and learned. Action creates clarity — not overthinking.
• Not Pushing Back When Something Didn't Make Sense: There were times I stayed quiet when a process felt off or unclear. Now I know: respectful pushback, with solutions, is a superpower — not a problem.
• Carrying the Pressure Alone: Wearing multiple hats (SDR, AE, Ops, Marketing) sometimes led to burnout. I've learned that sustainable growth means knowing when to say: "This needs more hands."

If you're in the early stages of building something — whether it's a company, a product, or your own career — I hope this helps you feel a little less alone. We're all figuring it out. One lesson at a time.