by Kunal Desai is the founder and CEO of Bulls on Wall Street
A common mantra you hear from entrepreneurs is to keep business & friends separate. You hear messages like this repeated often: ‘friends and business don’t mix’, ‘money can ruin friendship’, ‘it’s not personal, it’s business.’ But, business is personal – it’s comprised of people! People always look at the disadvantages, but there are amazing advantages to working with your friends.
As a CEO, my main priority is to establish a culture in the company that is conducive to growth and development – not just of employees, but of customers as well. The second most important thing I can do is to promote a vision and keep the group focused on always moving forward toward our vision. Third is values. A great team shares common values, which is often the foundation on which everything is built.
When you launch a new company your experience and capital will often be very low! Who better to help you with your goals then the people that know you and share your values! When I launched Bulls on Wall Street, I had a vision – a dream – but I did not have tremendous resources. Bringing my three childhood best friends aboard allowed me to grow faster than any of us had imagined! They already shared my values, and they truly believed in my vision. That bond helped us build an amazing culture of family and teamwork inside our company. And on a personal level, work is just more fun with them. To see my brothers everyday is one of my life’s proudest accomplishments.
To work with friends, though, there have to be some ground rules that can’t be bent:
Your friends must share your values and believe in your vision.
They must sacrifice in the short-term for the long-term payoff! They are not here just for a paycheck; they are here to help build your vision because they believe.
They must be the hardest working people at your company. A culture of favoritism and nepotism can tank your startup quickly. A culture of family and hard work can propel you to great hights.
Have loads of fun! In the beginning, we traveled all over the world, working remotely and building this company. That was done on purpose. It forced us to share amazing experiences that last a lifetime – but also, the proximity and excitement of what we were doing became contagious and made us work that much harder!
Kunal Desai is the founder and CEO of Bulls on Wall Street. Kunal began trading stocks during the Dotcom Boom, experiencing several ups and downs while growing his account and his knowledge of how the market works. It didn’t take very long for him to realize he had a passion for trading, and that he was particularly drawn to the excitement and profit potential of day- and swing-trading.
