Four lessons Diolog founder Amy Benson learned since winning the Pitch

This time last year, my ‘explosive’ pitch won SmartCompany‘s the Pitch — an early-stage startup competition — and won Diolog a whole lot of AWS credits. Here’s what I wish I could’ve told myself then.

Embrace the risk and stay focused

Amidst the whirlwind of media and investor enquiries, LinkedIn engagement and messages, the Pitch escalated our profile beyond what we ever expected. The chaotic victory dance temporarily took over the ‘where-do-we-need-to-improve’ part of the building. I’ve always been someone to ask for the tough feedback first, I should’ve asked for more feedback generally (stopped and smelt the roses in a sense to make the most of an opportunity).

Money doesn’t replace adaptability

Once the high of our win calmed down, we quickly came to terms with the inevitability of setbacks. It felt like we were trying to move mountains, but I realise now we will always be moving mountains, as is the way of a founder. Whether it is domains going down or having a team member leave unexpectedly — adaptability will be your best friend. What I thought we needed was money, what we really needed was more of a solution-focused mindset to preserve morale and momentum.

It takes a generalist to start a business and a specialist to scale one

As a founder, it feels like you’re constantly spinning plates, wearing many hats, juggling animals etc… Typical imposter syndrome took over and I was convinced we needed to hire specific roles to achieve growth and success. As our team expanded, suddenly the ‘job description’ was thrown out the window. For the stage we are at, working in a small team allows us to experiment and undertake a multitude of roles depending on where the demand is.

You don’t get what you don’t ask for

It’s okay to lean on the resources and people around you. I find myself constantly asking ‘Why can’t we do it like this?’ Just because it hasn’t been done a certain way before doesn’t render it unachievable. Don’t know something? Ask the people who do (especially customers) and don’t be limited by assumptions, test them.

We’re pushing the boundaries of innovation over here at Diolog, super, super proud of what we have achieved in the last year. Many new updates for both investor relations professionals and individual investors. Stay tuned for an even bigger update coming soon (our website!).

Back in March 2023, Amy Benson became the second winner of the Pitch, SmartCompany‘s early-stage startup competition, taking home up to $100,000 in prize value thanks to her “explosive” pitch.

This article was first published as a post on LinkedIn.