At Growthroute, we believe that start-up leaders should encourage candid inputs on their company and products, and be open to discussing things that don’t work. They should welcome that feedback at least as well as they receive compliments on their successes.

Highlighting deficiencies in due time (and offering solutions) gives entrepreneurs an opportunity to address them before they really hurt, while surrounding oneself with yes-sayers is a well-known recipe for failure – and yet still as common today as it was millennia ago. So you don’t want to surround yourself with either yes- or nay-sayers, you want smart folks who tell it as it is. In the age of twitter,  getsatisfaction, yelp and blogs, being able to productively process their feedback - even when perceived as harsh - is more important today than ever before. Not doing it means not getting it. (more…)