Founder Lessons I Learned Building a Startup From Scratch

There is an untold reality about becoming a founder that rarely gets spoken about plainly: you have the big idea, and then what?

How do you actually build it?

How do you fund it?

And how do you keep going when it is harder than you imagined?

My own journey began with an enormous leap of faith. I moved from California to London, leaving behind a 20-year career in fine wine, a business I still happily own and manage, to pursue my post-graduate studies at Cambridge and discover my next chapter in both business and life.

What I did not plan for was losing my home in the California wildfires. The claims process that followed, an insurer who had no understanding of what was in my home until everything was gone, showed me that the insurance system needed to change. Combined with a pivotal project at Cambridge on protecting at-risk cultural heritage at the British Museum, that experience gave me my light-bulb moment.

I wanted to create something that merged my passions and experiences with impact, a better system for understanding the real risk of what we insure, and a way to protect cultural objects, whether in a museum, a home, or a conflict zone- Elizabeth Marston

I pitched that seed of an idea to the Cambridge alumni accelerator. Today, I have co-founded Sotera, an InsurTech company in the Lloyd's market that uses AI to analyse complex policies and deliver detailed risk analysis, with a nonprofit focused on cultural heritage protection being built in parallel. The road has rarely been straightforward. Here are the 19 lessons I have learned along the way.

19 founder lessons — what I wish I had known

1 Choose your co-founder as carefully as any life-defining decision

Your co-founder will be your anchor, sounding board and closest companion. Put everything in writing early — equity structure, roles, desired outcomes. Have the honest conversations about what success looks like for each of you before those conversations become harder to have. Do they want a quick exit? Do you want to build something that becomes a lifelong career and identity? Find out before you are too far in.

2 Start with your why - and let it drive everything

Purpose is not a nice-to-have. It is the engine. Simon Sinek's Start With the Why genuinely shaped how I approached building Sotera. Our why, making the insurance market work better, fuelled by our own experience of its failures, and underpinned by a shared passion for cultural heritage, gives the work its resonance. When you align your purpose and your talents, that is where the magic can happen.

3 Define the one thing you are solving in a single sentence

We were wildly over-ambitious early on, trying to solve everything at once. Determine the one key problem to solve first and describe it in a single sentence. This is harder than it sounds. There is also real danger in building a solution before verifying it solves a market problem. We made that mistake, building first, then spending months asking: who will pay for this?

4 Build a proof of concept as soon as possible

Even a simple mock-up of what the technology would look like is more powerful than any description of it. The visual makes the abstract concrete in pitches and investor meetings. Build it early, iterate often, and let real feedback shape the next version.

5 Funding is power, treat it with discipline from day one

Without capital, nothing progresses. Know your burn rate at all times, keep it lean, and plan for the reality that you will likely not draw a salary for the first year or two. Look for niche-specific grants and aligned angel investors whose values match your mission. Then cultivate those relationships with transparent, regular updates that share both the wins and the challenges.

6 Build a team of people brilliant at what you are not

Hire smart, passionate people who fill the gaps in your own expertise and genuinely create a culture that fosters collaboration, innovation, and fulfilment. Surrounding yourself with brilliant people is one of the smartest investments you will make as a founder.

7 Your advisory board is not optional - especially early

Honestly, analyse what skills and credentials are missing from your core team. Who do you need in the room with you? The right advisors open doors, lend credibility, and provide perspective you cannot generate from inside. We have been fortunate to have on our board and team experts, including a former Europol advisor, a global identity and security specialist, a former NASA data scientist, and the former Head of Innovation at Lloyd's. We approach these roles on a six-month rolling basis; you choose who comes on board, when and to what extent.

Sotera's advisory board includes

Former Europol Advisor, Global Identity & Security Expert

Former NASA Data Scientist

Former Head of Innovation, Lloyd's

8 Community is everything

Building a business can be isolating. Find mentors who have already succeeded in your sector. Connect with founder groups and fellow entrepreneurs — sharing challenges and victories with like-minded people is transformative and a helpful reminder that you are not the only one experiencing the swings of building something new.

Find your champions, and become that for someone else.

9 Your network is your secret weapon

Attend industry events and work the room fearlessly. Build relationships before you need them — many of my most meaningful connections became invaluable resources years after our first meeting. Join outstanding accelerators in your sector. You will fast-track business development, earn market validation, and meet advisors, mentors and potential investors you could not have found any other way.

10 Take action every day, you'll never feel ready

As an entrepreneur, you learn quickly that no one is coming to give you permission. Take action now, play as if you are already in the game. Lack of experience does not mean you cannot earn a seat at the table. It just means you will be doing the preparation while already sitting at it.

11 Fail fast and pivot without fear

Failure is an inevitable part of the journey. Learn quickly from mistakes and adapt. If something is not working, do not be afraid to iterate and move on, even if it means leaving hard work behind. The quicker you can pivot, the sooner you find what works. As Mandela said: "I never lose. I either win or learn."

12 Your vision will evolve, and that is a feature, not a bug

The business you set out to build may look very different from the one you end up creating. We started focused on collectibles and unusual objects insurance, fascinating, but too narrow commercially. We listened to our investors, found a bigger market, and shifted focus. PayPal started as a way to send money between PalmPilots. Airbnb started as an air mattress rental. The pivot is often where the real business begins.

13 Listen to the market, it is always talking

One of the biggest mistakes founders make is building a solution in search of a problem. Listen to your customers and the market. Do your market research, and then do it again. The market will tell you what it needs if you are willing to hear it.

14 Ask: does this make the boat go faster?

Before any action, ask whether it moves the business closer to its goals. If the answer is no, redirect your energy. In the early stages, you will likely focus on the golden rule of three: fundraising, product development and customers. Everything else can wait.

15 It will take longer than you think, double it, then triple it

Whatever timeline you have in your head for building the business, extend it significantly. Success does not happen overnight. Building something meaningful requires patience and fearless persistence above almost everything else.

16 Stay a student, always

A founder's journey is a masterclass in continuous learning. I calendar time every Monday afternoon to research areas where I am less experienced. Starting an InsurTech without a background in insurance meant learning from the ground up — asking endless questions, doing the research, immersing myself in the industry. To be open to lifelong learning is a superpower.

17 Prioritise balance; burnout is a productivity killer

Schedule activities that recharge you as non-negotiables. For me, it is regular workouts and time to enjoy London. These breaks allow me to return to work with renewed energy and clarity. In the beginning, I felt that anything unrelated to the business was a distraction. That approach is not sustainable — and if you burn out, how can the business succeed?

18 Celebrate every win, no matter how small

Take time to acknowledge your victories. They are hard-earned and deserve to be recognised. Keep a record of every win and refer back to it often, especially during the harder stretches. Those moments of success will fuel you for the challenges ahead.

19 Always come back to your why

At the heart of every entrepreneurial journey is the reason you started. This sense of purpose will be your anchor during the hard times and your rocket fuel during the moments of triumph. Write it down. Review it regularly. Everything else can shift; your why should not.

If you are ready to take the leap and build the business you have always dreamed of, know that you have already taken the hardest step. Getting started is the thing.

As founders, we choose to leave behind the safety of traditional careers to pursue something bigger than ourselves. It is a path defined by courage, resilience, grit, and vision. Your skills, passion, and ideas are needed in the world.

Keep going. You have got this.