Kadri Tuisk: “Many problems an entrepreneur faces are new even to the world”
On the 31st of January, Kadri will take the stage with two startup founders on sTARTUp Day to give advice on fundraising. She will share the stage with Kaidi Ruusalepp (Founder and CEO of Funderbeam) and Kristel Kruustükk (founder and CEO of Testlio).
How did you become an entrepreneur – was it something that happened naturally or was it a well-deliberated decision?
Early on, I already liked the feeling that my actions can have an impact, and entrepreneurship is the easiest way for me to translate that to reality. Entrepreneurship for me started when I discovered that I could not create the impact I wanted in an 8 - 5 job. So the traditional format of being an employee naturally created an opportunity for me to take action and start entrepreneurship.
To all the readers - start doing actions leading to entrepreneurship rather sooner than later. Because then your personal runway of succeeding, failing and learning is longer.
What are the questions to ask yourself to find out what you want to do in life?
I do that review regularly. And I do not do it by asking questions but looking into myself how happy I am in different areas of life. I analyze, tweak and finetune them on a regular basis to always be in touch with myself and be my best self. I call it “designing my life” sessions. Because you can pretty much create the life you want by yourself.
What do you think about mentors? Do you have any?
Mentors are crucial for going forward because many situations an entrepreneur faces are new to themselves or even to the world. In times like this, it is healthy to ask for advice whether from someone who has done similar things or had to hack her/himself through the situations that have never been done in the world. It requires a certain type of mindset that is learnable.
I have had mentors in different aspects of my journey. I do not have one specific to whom I run in every type of need. I look for people based on the phases I am facing. To my great luck - the start-up community is very open for sharing knowledge and thinking along. And I also give back myself, when I see that I can help.
What are the personality traits that help a person to become successful?
Success for every person is a different thing and therefore might require different personality traits for each one of us. But in my case - positivity, grit and strong self-management skills.
Why is now the time for Clanbeat to exist?
The era of taking people in large chunks as commodities are luckily starting to get over. We are on the verge of a ubiquitous economy, where services are morphing themselves according to each individual needs. The same is happening with education. This is why we exist.
Clanbeat is here to help that change in the world to happen - so there would be more fulfilled people in the world able to create positive change. The innovative part of the education field is moving towards enabling students individual learning. Hopefully, soon being internally motivated, achieving their goals, and shaping their own future, is not only the privilege of people with special needs but for everybody. And in the future, not only for students but also to support lifelong learning.
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?
I feel that my life is filled with constant failure. I fail every day at something- smaller or bigger. And this is the most valuable thing I love about life - that pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. You have the power to choose how you react to failure and what comes out of it. Failure equals learning, and it helps us become more. Although, in the short term, it is not always so easy to take it like that. And not everyone might agree with that mindset.
I have a background in international modeling, where going to castings pretty much equals going to potential sales or investor meetings. I failed so many times and got 100 no’s, before I started getting the yes’s, and learned how to fine-tune my audience and how to pitch. I remember that I went to the first casting and first investors meeting with the same energy and enthusiasm. And at the beginning, I didn’t realize, that not everybody is going to commit to you or your cause, just because you believe in it. If you have been to 100 of them, you approach things much more systematically and from different angles, which leads to success and less heartbreak. Because you are not wasting time on wrong people and actions. So the take-off is to learn from your failure and not to give up.
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Hero of the Week is a column focused on inspirational entrepreneurial people around us – their journeys, success stories and lessons learned from failures; goals, inspiration and everything in between. Get inspired and be the Hero of your own life!
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