If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, you’ve likely heard about the role that grit plays in business success. Many articles attempt to explain the importance of grit to the entrepreneurial journey, but nothing is more convincing than learning that some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world identify grit as an essential quality. Listed below are three wildly successful entrepreneurs and what they’ve had to say about grit in business.
Tina Sharkey, co-founder of Brandless
Though not a millennial herself, Tina Sharkey’s strong understanding of the generation’s desire for purpose-driven consumerism and corporate social responsibility has led her to incredible success as the co-founder of Brandless. Brandless is a digital marketplace which offers customers “high-quality products at simple, fair prices.” The company is also “community informed” and committed to giving back by partnering with the nonprofit group Feeding America.
Under Sharkey’s leadership, Brandless has donated over 3 million meals to people who are food-insecure in the United States. Since its foundation in 2012, Brandless has been routinely identified as a disruptor in the natural consumer products industry. This past April, the company’s new goal of “democratizing” clean beauty was highlighted by Fortune magazine. Through Brandless, Sharkey has established a company that aims to allow people on every part of the economic spectrum to access high-quality products that are healthy for both humans and the earth.
Though she began her career as an entrepreneur, today Sharkey is an investor who looks to help other aspiring founders grow their startups. In an interview with Forbes last fall, Sharkey reflected on entrepreneurial success by stating that a founder had to be willing to “roll up their sleeves and do the hard work” if they wanted to be successful. She names “grit, determination, and relentless pursuit of ideas” as the most important qualities for anyone who wants to make it as an entrepreneur.
Gary Vaynerchuk, founder of VaynerMedia
Gary Vaynerchuk (known by fans as “Gary Vee”) is recognized as much for his motivational speeches and online persona as he is for his many entrepreneurial ventures. Vaynerchuk’s first business success came after he assumed responsibility for his family’s discount liquor store in New Jersey in the late 90s. To begin, he rebranded the store under the name Wine Library and brought it online. He was an early adopter of digital marketing strategies and social media platforms, and in 2006, he began producing a daily video blogging show on YouTube, which was then only a fledgling platform. In these videos, he tasted and reviewed wine with his characteristic flair to indirectly promote his Wine Library website.
His unique approach to researching and sampling wine caught the attention of the media, and he was invited to appear on celebrity talk shows. Through creativity, innovation, and a gritty resolve to grow his business, Vaynerchuk increased the store’s sales from $3 million to $60 million a year. In the process, he distinguished himself as one of the first entrepreneurs to successfully use social media as a tool for business growth. Today, Vaynerchuk assists brands through his digital agency VaynerMedia. The company works out of four international offices with major brands like Hulu, Toyota, GE, Chase, and PepsiCo and boasts over $100 million in annual revenue. He further supports entrepreneurship as an investor and co-founded a $25-million early stage investment fund.
Vaynerchuk continues to produce his own content to help aspiring entrepreneurs and would-be digital influencers through his podcast, The GaryVee Audio Experience. It is through his podcast, blog, and YouTube videos that his belief in the importance of grit for entrepreneurial success is most apparent, though his preferred term is “hustle.” In this 2014 blog on his personal website, Vaynerchuk writes that “hustling is putting every minute and all your effort into achieving the goal at hand.” The core message of all Vaynerchuk’s advice to entrepreneurs is to have the grit and hustle to achieve your dreams—to “rise and grind” and do whatever it takes to achieve your professional goals.
Ashton Kutcher, co-founder of Sound Ventures
Many people know Ashton Kutcher as a Hollywood star, but the startup world knows him as a successful entrepreneur and investor driven by philanthropic values. Kutcher has stepped away from the camera in recent years to focus on his roles as a tech investor and nonprofit co-founder. In particular, he’s concentrated on his work with the group Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children.
Co-founding the organization in 2009 under a different name, Kutcher is driven by his zeal for protecting victims of sexual abuse. He has even testified in front of the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate about the need for increased efforts to combat modern slavery. Thorn is described as having “the nimbleness of a startup, with the mission and values of a nonprofit.” The group combats sex trafficking and child pornography by “identify[ing] critical technical needs and produc[ing] tools that allow law enforcement to stay ahead of perpetrators and rescue more children.”
Apart from his work in applying technology to humanitarian work, Kutcher is also an angel investor who has invested in major companies like Uber, Airbnb, Skype, and Warby Parker. Crunchbase reports that his newest fund, Sound Ventures, has made 69 investments, with the most recent being an investment in the fintech company Affirm, which announced its $300 million Series F round of equity funding in April 2019.
Of the people included on this list, Kutcher is perhaps the most vocal about his belief in the importance of grit as an entrepreneurial trait. While serving as a panelist at an event for young entrepreneurs at Colgate University, Kutcher told students that his decision to make an investment in a company is always dependent on the founder, rather than the founder’s idea. Kutcher knows there are often several companies with similar ideas vying for funding, and what truly sets one company apart from its competition is the founder’s grit. He says that “it’s a person’s grit or ability and willingness to work hard and overcome problems when most people quit” that convinces him to invest. He followed this up with the assertion that grit is “really hard to find—special people have it.”