Building a long-term sustainable organization in the pressures of short-term tech cultue

Top 5 Take Aways from Josh Malate

Last week our CEO and Co-Founder, Kelsey Hahn, hosted an inspiring fireside chat at Innovation Week Calgary, interviewing Josh Malate, a seasoned entrepreneur, angel investor, director, and co-founder of successful startups Ultimarii and Athennian (a legal tech leader, who last raised $42M CAD in 2022). From navigating financial pressures to understanding the importance of culture, here are the five key takeaways from our conversation with Josh Malate.

Monark’s TL;DR

• Balance investor returns with customer experience, there’s no ROI if you don’t deliver excellence for your clients.
• Stay resilient through both successes and challenges, embrace them all as a learning curve.
• Embrace and live by your company's core values, every day - and empower your employees to do the same.
• Retain control of essential functions until the business is turning a good profit before you delegate them.
• Foster leadership growth through continuous learning for both your employees and your company.

Let’s dive into the nitty gritty…

1. Investor ROI vs. Customer Experiences: Find the Right Balance

Early on in his career as an entrepreneur, Josh learned the hard way to find that delicate balance between driving returns for investors and providing exceptional experiences for customers. While investors are naturally focused on ROI, Josh emphasized the importance of creating a product and experience that resonate deeply with customers. It’s not just about profits; it's about making a real impact. He advised founders to always keep the customer at the center, which will inevitably lead to both customer satisfaction and investor success.

2. Resilience is Key: Embrace the Highs and Lows

Building a company is never a straight path, and Josh shared candidly about the emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship. He spoke about the early days of Athennian, which began in a basement under a yoga studio hosting HIIT classes (think, a heard of elephants jumping up and down every 2 hours) and had a cricket infestation—yet, the passion of the team was undeniable. Josh’s advice: the highs will come, but don’t get too excited about them. Likewise, don’t get discouraged by the lows: potential hires might go elsewhere and long-standing employees might leave. And that hits hard as a startup founder who genuinely cares about their people. But resilience, he emphasized, is about taking the hits, learning from them, and moving forward without letting successes or failures cloud your long-term vision.

3. The Importance of Culture: Live your Core Values

In times of financial strain and intense competition, Josh stressed the importance of culture. At Athennian, even as the company grew and the pressure mounted, he kept the team aligned by being intentional about their culture. For example, he would bring two people from opposite ends of the organizational chart to evaluate potential hires against three core values. This approach ensured that potential employees not only had the necessary skills but also aligned with the company’s culture, giving existing employees tangible ownership living the organizational values every day. A win-win for everyone involved.

4. Owning vs. Delegating: Hold onto Core Functions for Longer

Reflecting on his entrepreneurial journey, Josh offered a valuable lesson on scaling. Asked for one thing he would do differently if he could go back, Josh said he would hold on to go-to-market strategies and sales for longer during the early stages of growth. This might seem counter-intuitive as many start-up founders struggle for time. But Josh’s take is that founders “hold the DNA” of the business in their hands: they are unlocking product-market fit (PMF) by working on sales enablement, messaging, pricing, and product development all at the same time. They are in the thick of it, their knowledge so vast, it can’t possibly be taught to someone else while everything is still unfolding. Delegating these critical tasks too early can lead to missed opportunities for deeper understanding and refinement, he explained.

So, Josh’s advise is to hold off on delegating sales and go-to-market strategy, ideally until after reaching $2 million in ARR. This, he believes, will give the company more time to solidify its foundation and ensure sustainable growth.

5. Leadership Insights: Cultivate Growth Through Exponential Learning

One of the most profound leadership insights Josh shared was the concept of the exponential learning curve for both the company and its employees. The steeper that learning curve is for each individual, the steeper it is for the company as a whole. In his view, the steepness of the learning curve is more important than the absolute value of an individual’s position or experience. He believes that identifying how quickly someone can grow and how eager they are to learn is a powerful indicator of success, a concept he calls being an ambitious learner—for both himself and his team.

Ultimately, Josh’s leadership philosophy revolves around creating a culture where exponential growth is not just possible but crucial: for the company as a whole, and for every individual within it. When you build a team that thrives on continuous learning and growth, you set the stage for sustainable success.

Final Thoughts: The Future of Calgary’s Tech Scene

As a founder deeply embedded in Calgary's growing tech ecosystem, Josh shared his vision for the future. With Edmonton positioning itself as an AI hub, he believes there is tremendous opportunity in Alberta's tech scene, although critical to continuously be investing in our talent pool and upskilling tech talent

Josh’s wisdom is clear: founders must be resilient, stay true to their values, and continuously focus on growth and learning. If you’re building a startup, his advice will undoubtedly provide you with a roadmap to navigate the highs, the lows, and everything in between.