Everything always comes back to relationships 🤝

“In the end, our ability to interact with one another, connect, understand, help one another–all during our brief time of being alive on this earth–just feels like a core thing we should be focusing on.”

As founders, we’re often encouraged to network and build up our support system.

For some, that looks like being part of niche LinkedIn groups. For others, that might mean connecting with the local community.

But does building up a huge list of connections help us if we don’t put in effort to foster real relationships with these people?

For Josh Guter, creator of the innovative relationship management app called Elephants, the answer was always clear.

When the pro’s system didn’t work

“The journey of Elephants actually began way earlier than I had even realized. I started hitting walls… And that's when I finally was like, ‘There's got to be a better way.’”

As a student at NC State, Josh was already cultivating his entrepreneurial mindset. After receiving advice that he’ll have to start networking to get somewhere, he started by grabbing coffee with a buddy.

This wasn’t just a friend, though. He was known as “the dude who knew a dude.” Exactly the kind of guy Josh could learn from.

For someone who was known for successful networking, the way he kept all his contacts was actually quite simple: a spreadsheet.

So, Josh started off with the same, a “people spreadsheet.” But it didn’t take long to run into problems.

“This system worked well until I had over 50 or 60 relationships, and then the spreadsheet folded. It just wasn't doing the job. It was way too hard to get in there and click between sheets to update stuff.”

Looking for a quick fix, he started using a “to-do” app instead, creating tasks and subtasks to keep everything organized.

The way it managed his tasks didn’t work for certain projects though, so he needed to try something new. Again.

Not wanting to lose his contact info, or his initial people spreadsheet, it was time for a different approach.

Instead of looking for another solution, he decided to create his own.

“I started by using all the things that everybody uses… And then I was like, ‘I'm going to build an app, and the app I decided to build was to solve the relationship management problem that I still hadn't had a good software for.’”

How adding more to his plate didn’t feel like work

“The truth is, I really love building cool stuff. We’re managing over 6,500 relationships right now on Elephants and knowing that this platform is helping enhance or improve that many relationships motivates me so much.”

When it came time to plan out the app, the logistics of making it weren’t the problem. Josh already had some knowledge under his belt.

With a personal interest in computer science, experience working with multiple startups, and technical knowledge in using low-code, no-code tools to build really complex software, it was just a matter of setting aside time to get it done.

The real challenge came in finding balance.

He was building Elephants while working a full time job, after all.

Fortunately, his full time job is more outcome-driven than it is hour-driven. If you get the work done, you can go home.

“I'm able to buy myself a lot of time by working efficiently at the full-time job and having a boss who's super supportive of doing entrepreneurial stuff.”

With that extra time, Josh initially went all in with the idea that he’d have to hustle to be successful.

“I consumed that mindset deeply. It was a culmination of a lot of things happening at the same time… My mind was very malleable and I assumed I had to grind. But one day it hit me that the best versions of ourselves, the most efficient versions, the ones that are able to do the most? They’re the ones that are also able to strike a balance.”

And that’s been his key to getting a lot done and not burning out from the work:

Knowing when he’s doing too much, stopping, and being okay with taking a break.

The struggles he wasn’t ready for

“When I sit down and talk to my friends who are full-time founders, I see how they fundraise and they’re doing their thing, and I think, ‘I’m not a real founder. I’m just a dude who works at a college. That negative voice will come in and just completely slam dunk my mood for the day.”

No matter how skilled we are at what we do, Impostor Syndrome likes to make an appearance, sometimes leading us to question everything.

For Josh, one of his worries has always been the possibility of disappointing others.

Building a platform that manages personal information means there’s a lot of security involved. People are relying on this service to make their lives easier and keep their info safe.

“My biggest fears with any work are always: Have I done this good enough? Have I made a good enough impact? Are my customers using the product and are they happy with it? Or have I disappointed them in some way?”

But for every negative thought Josh has, he’s also realized that it’s all relative.

Ultimately, we’re in control of the way we react to certain situations and can choose to see things in a new perspective.

While some founders go all in (and unfortunately, sometimes lose everything), Josh’s approach has provided a safety net.

“The flip side of that coin is, I've made extremely intelligent decisions to get a job that pays me enough to cover all of my bills, but also doesn't take so much time that I can't do the startup thing.”

An effective boost when things get tough

Especially when things feel particularly rough, Josh has a little trick that always manages to snap him out of a negative thought spiral.

“I have a feel-good document that sits at the highest level of Elephant's Google Drive, and all that document contains are quotes from customers. I look at that for my reminder that I'm not a stupid guy who can't start a business… Because I see these quotes, and it's like, okay, I'm making a real impact on people.”

While some people use Elephants for personal relationships and others for business, the sentiment is always the same:

The platform helps them foster real connections within their network.

These customer notes have been one of the most rewarding outcomes of his business thus far, serving as a constant reminder that Josh is, in fact, making a difference…

And that relationships really are at the core of everything he does.

The biggest motivator has always been real relationships

“We need to be people connecting with people. I would love for the tool to help make that happen more often and more authentically… but I definitely don't want it to replace me, a human, connecting with another actual human.”

With AI showing up in every corner of our lives, the push for automation and streamlined systems is at an all-time high.

But when it comes to connecting with people, Josh firmly believes we need to set a boundary.

AI-driven tools, like Elephants, are great for helping us keep our information organized but they shouldn’t be used to replace communication.

“Elephants is solving an issue of relationship management for real human beings that are genuinely benefiting from it. They get a text in the morning that reminds them to call their dad or that their niece’s birthday is coming up, for example.”

People have asked if the platform can do things like automatically read emails and add tasks where needed…

But Josh continues to refuse implementing those kinds of changes.

See, his personal life is filled with examples of how genuine relationships have served him.

Like, when his parents adopted him as a young child from Russia, giving him opportunities he never would have had otherwise.

Or when he met up with a friend from high school who wanted to become a photographer. Josh gave him his camera and some encouragement and now, his friend is a videographer for an NFL team.

Being helped by or helping others has always been the most rewarding experience, so making sure Elephants maintains a certain level of effort in the relationship is a priority.

Key takeaways from the ongoing journey

Though he hasn’t been a founder for long, there’s already a few things that have stuck with Josh that make this experience more impactful.

🌱 Consider therapy

There’s often a stigma around seeing a therapist that prevents a lot of people from greatly benefiting and changing their life.

“I was about to mess everything up in my life a year and a half ago and then I started going to therapy. Everything seriously got better. It’s so good.”

🌱 Focus on the people you’re trying to serve

After years of heavy networking, traveling, and meeting all kinds of people, Josh was really hit with the reality that every single human is a complex being with just as difficult or as exciting of a life as the next. It’s easy to forget that when we’re focusing on creating a successful business.

“I would just urge every person who's trying to get into entrepreneurship to think, you're not getting into it for the money, you're getting into it for the impact.”

🌱 Low-code, no-code is the future

Long gone are the days where we need to learn extensive coding to create a great product. So for any of us who have a great idea but have resisted because we don’t know how we’ll make it happen, it might be easier than we think!

“Founders can deploy solutions to basically any problem you can think of with almost no effort, and then start serving people immediately.”

When’s the last time you audited your own wellness?

You get plenty of advice. What you rarely get is a pause. Each month, we’ll share a simple prompt to help you step out of execution mode and consider what “founding well” looks like in your world right now.

Even those who claim to be “self-made” successes often had some additional support along the way.

Acknowledging who has helped you, or who you’d like to have in your circle, helps us understand our own strengths and create a culture where we’re valued for what we bring to the table.

Feel free to pull out old fashioned pen and paper, or create a new doc just for journaling, and spend a few focused moments thinking about the following:

• Where am I trying to go it alone, even though I don’t have to?
• What relationship in my work or life feels nourishing right now?
• Who would be glad to support me if I let them—and what stops me from asking?
• If I wrote a thank-you note to someone who made this path possible, who would it be?
• Where do I feel truly seen in my entrepreneurial life—and where do I feel invisible?

There’s no right or wrong answer. If nothing comes up, that’s okay too! Use this as space to notice what is real for you today. A few messy lines are enough.

If you're comfortable sharing your insights with us, let us know at foundingwell@vallelegal.com.