Ep 6: Interview with Sujan Patel

“I found early on when I dug deep, that I just like solving problems. So as long as I'm in a role, in a function, or what the business is doing is constantly challenging me, I don't care what the business is. I just want to solve some sort of problem,” shares Sujan Patel, owner of Mail Shake, Ramp Ventures, ZoomShift and other SAAS businesses. As a serial entrepreneur, Sujan has learned a lot about how to grow and scale a successful business. Today, Sujan joins host Stefan Whitwell to talk about his career journey, when to #followyourheart, and the importance of #lifeworkbalance. 

 

Sujan has always been motivated by solving problems and is drawn to high adrenaline challenges like racing and skydiving. After a skydiving incident where he survived a plane crash, he realized failure in business could not kill him. This mindset shift paved the way for him to really put himself out there and not be afraid of trying new things. Sujan shares that the best gift he has ever received was simply permission to try. When making a decision in business, many get caught up in indecision, so sometimes all you need is someone saying to just do it. 

 

It’s always important to follow your heart, both in business and in your personal life. Also, don’t forget to celebrate the wins, even if you are far away from your team. Although Sujan has a fully remote team, he still manages to celebrate the wins by treating them to dinners with their loved ones.

 

Quotes

• “What I really love about how we operate each individual business is we focus on things that can actually help us hit our milestones or growth.” (6:46-6:57 | Sujan)
• “We measure success on exit value, not that we necessarily have to exit.” (7:23-7:28 | Sujan)
• “I found early on when I dug deep, that I just like solving problems. So as long as I'm in a role, in a function, or what the business is doing is constantly challenging me, I don't care what the business is. I just want to solve some sort of problem, but what I love more than problems is money.” (11:34-11:52 | Sujan)
• “We want to encourage people to celebrate with their families and the people they love, because we can't celebrate with them.” (15:44-15:50 | Sujan) 
• “I learned to never eat alone about 10 years ago. And I probably spend one to two hours a day connecting with somebody that I don't know well.” (51:12-51:21 | Sujan) 

 

Connect with Sujan Patel:

sujanpatel.com

 

Connect with Stefan:
https://whitwelladvisors.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitwell

To contact the host, you can schedule a meeting with him here: https://calendly.com/whitwell-advisors

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