During the first part of the conversation, it was established that Chandika is a risk taker. When faced with the uncomfortable truth of having their platform built on a foundation that was on its way to irrelevancy, they pivoted to a new, Javascript built platform that was not nearly as feature rich - fully knowing that they might lose clients in the short run.
In this episode, Eric continues the conversation with Chandika Jayasundara, the Co-Founder and CEO of Creately. Creately is a visual collaboration platform that helps teams ideate, plan and execute on an infinite workspace, and as of August 2023 they have reached over 10 million users.
During the first part of the conversation, it was established that Chandika is a risk taker. When faced with the uncomfortable truth of having their platform built on a foundation that was on its way to irrelevancy they pivoted to a new, Javascript built platform that was not nearly as feature rich - fully knowing that they might lose clients in the short run.
This same theme of courageous business decisions is continued upon in this part of the conversation. Chandika is great at avoiding sunk cost fallacies, and pivoting to new horizons. This isn’t by any means dumb luck - Chandika is able to make these decisions fruitfully due to his deep understanding of his market and great foresight into what his ICP will need in the future.
His conviction stems from a mindset that isn’t afraid of short term losses if that helps them avoid falling into obscurity in the future. Chandika talks about the difference between a good business and a “Home run” business, and mentions that he pursues the second at all cost - while making sure the current status quo can sustain them during the growth spurt stages when risks are taken and innovations are born.
Chandika’s first core company value is growth. Whether on a work project or a personal matter, his mentality is that without growth you’re not really doing much. Second value is trust - in this case meaning that any decision should be explainable and accessible to anyone, as when you don’t have a clear, presentable “why” is when unwanted politics come into play, causing team members to lose trust in the transparency and process of their peers.
When it comes to personal principles, Chandika values his ability of being present in every single conversation, which is something that gets lost in the distracting nature of modern business. He also likes to dig deep before making decisions, and really view the whole picture prior to calling shots - both in his business and personal life. That also means giving the benefit of doubt to everyone who surrounds him, even if prior situations might indicate that open mindedness is not a requirement when dealing with a particular individual.
Tune in to the full episode to learn more on what steps you need to take to stay relevant in a competitive market for 15 years!
00:00 Bet Everything on the Path of the Future
02:35 Finding True Conviction
07:30 Chandika’s Value & Leadership Principles
10:57 Personal Principles
13:42 Trust is a Non-Negotiable
16:23 Reaching the Next Stage of Growth
Connect with Chandika - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandika/
Check out Creately - https://creately.com/
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To reach out to Eric, visit FullCycleProduct.com