This Sunday, I’ll be giving a talk to 16-year-olds who are about to launch their own startups.

Preparing for it gave me something I didn’t expect: a reason to pause, reflect, and distill more than 20 years of entrepreneurship—companies built, capital raised, mistakes made, lessons learned, and people who shaped the path.

Entrepreneurship has never been a straight line for me. It’s a rollercoaster—moments of thrill, moments of fear, and long stretches of simply holding on. But whether I was on the way up or down, I discovered that each moment held a gift.

Some gifts came from success: closing an important deal, seeing a product live, watching a team celebrate. Others came from failure: being rejected by investors, hiring the wrong person, launching something nobody wanted.

Both matter equally, because both fuel growth.

So what do I take with me to share with the next generation? Here are the guiding principles I’ve carried forward:

• Fall. Learn. Grow.
• Don’t assume—ask questions.
• Curiosity is your superpower.
• Curiosity + persistence = founder fuel.
• All beginnings are hard—start anyway.
• Only the bold win.
• Failure = progress. Learning is the only metric that matters.
• Don’t chase money—chase passion.
• Money follows impact.
• Create opportunities—don’t wait for them.
• Build connections. Don’t run alone.
• Entrepreneurship is never alone—always together.
• It’s not what you know, it’s who you know—and what they do for you.
• Don’t fear risks. Entrepreneurship = risk-taking.
• Celebrate success, but learn harder from failures.
• Do what you love—money follows passion.
• Balance life: family, friends, personal growth—life is short.
• Invest in yourself, your family, and your community.
• Don’t reinvent the wheel—learn from those who already built it.
• Collaborate. Look around—your next partner may already be beside you.
• Ask yourself weekly: what did I try, and what did I learn from it?

When I sat with these reflections, I realized they are not rules. They’re possibilities. Each one is a door that can open—for a new idea, a partnership, or a way of seeing yourself differently.

And this is the message I’ll share on Sunday: Entrepreneurship isn’t about chasing money—it’s about chasing meaning, people, and growth. If you’re bold enough to fall, learn, and rise again, you’re already walking the right path.

So let me ask you: What is one lesson from your journey—professional or personal—that you’d want to pass on to the next generation.