There are times when you find yourself in a room full of people and have an opportunity to really learn something about yourself and about the people around you. The Seattle 2.0 awards last night was one of those moments when I had an opportunity to learn from a group of people who I admire and like to spend time with. Even though I do not have as much time to spend on this as I would like, here are some lessons that I pulled out of the whole thing.

Go Big or Go Home is not just about growing the company fast, it is about the idea of solving the problem. What problem is your startup trying to solve. Is it a big problem like moving medical scanning data to a tablet computer, new processing methods for data, or connecting millions of people in 140 character segments. What is the problem you are trying to solve, and if you have a solution, one that is unique, has a huge potential value, and you can show that it is viable, go big or go home works here.

You can be 24 and be the CEO of a company. Many folks complain that GenY and GenX are coming in to the organization wanting to be the CEO. I met a 24 year old CEO yesterday, I felt old, but I also felt oddly elated, I can show my students in school that yes, you can be the CEO, but you have to go big or go home.

That you have to do what you love, if you love what you are doing you will do it with your whole heart. If you want to work in a startup, or start a company, believe in what you are doing. I know I love what I am doing, and more often than not, have enjoyed what I am doing. I have only had two dud jobs (that didn’t last very long) in my career. I have loved the people I have worked with, and have worked hard to do the right thing the first time all the time. If you hate what you are doing, quit, go do something else, you won’t find what you are looking for when you hate what you are doing.

You can be old, young, middle aged, it does not matter, at some point you will hit a limit on upward momentum. At some point, someone is going to think you are too old for the job, have a back up plan, and make sure it is something you love. While we live in a culture that cherishes youth, you can be any age and still have great ideas, and be able to work on them.

Be Honest, this was the most interesting lesson of the day. How many of us work for people who just can not be honest. We might work for people who can not own the mistake, can not own the failure. If you are honest, you will own the good and the bad things you do. When they are good share the wealth, when they are bad own them, know yourself, be honest, be willing to change. The more honest you are, the more ability you demonstrate that you can own the good and bad of the decisions you make, the more loyalty you will get from your employees. The more loyalty you will get from the startup process, and the more fun you will have.

The people who I respect carry all of these traits, they are not deceptive, they are deep thinkers, and they often are consensus building people. They are doing what they are doing for the team, for the people they know, and the relationships they build are based on respect and trust. It is funny that I have to go to a local awards ceremony to cement in things that I have always found true, but in the longer run, if you have all these traits, and work with the things I have learned, the more you will love what you do, be around people you like/love and respect, and find that your life is going much happier down the road.

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