I Thought I Knew My Value as a Founder — Until I Had an Ego Death Starting a New Company

I spent years in digital marketing, running my own company and finding a fair amount of success. I understood how things worked, and people often came to me for answers. My track record gave me confidence and a sense of comfort, even though I sometimes made mistakes.

But I decided to leave that industry and started the Hemp Foundation, then Ukhi. My confidence faded quickly. Suddenly, I was in a world where none of my old knowledge seemed to matter.

Sometimes it gave me a sinking feeling. It was a new world of farming, factories, laborers and land laws. It was a highly regulated sector. I felt like a beginner again. I had the drive, but I barely knew the rules of the game.

Embracing identity crisis

Suddenly, I found myself in a zone where I didn’t even understand the basic vocabulary. I had to face the fact that my years of experience were worthless when it came to physical materials and government regulations. I realized my old tricks were not working. They were worthless. In my previous role, the results did not take time to show. In this new world, “fast” was not an option. Everything was taking time.

Here, the cost of failing was quite high. Even the fixes were not easy. In manufacturing, fixing one simple mistake meant a massive loss of time and money. I found myself sitting in boring government offices for hours, waiting to talk to people who didn’t care about my past wins. To them, I wasn’t a “successful entrepreneur” — I was just a guy who didn’t understand the legal paperwork.

I had to learn how to deal with government officials who moved at their own pace. I had to learn the laws and regulations governing an industry that is among the most heavily monitored in the world. I had to go through a total “ego death” to realize that my value wasn’t in what I already knew, but in how fast I could learn.

The power of starting from zero

This journey forced me to change who I was. I had to let go of the idea that I could just do what I wanted. In the online world, you don’t need a permit to try something entirely new. But when you are turning farm waste into a plastic alternative, every single move is a conversation about safety and the law. I had to learn that sitting in a waiting room for four hours was just as important as signing a big contract.

The turning point came when I stopped trying to be the smartest person in the room. Because I didn’t know the “right” way to do things in the plastics business, I started asking “simple” questions that the experts had stopped asking years ago.

1. Patience is a strategic skill. Whether it’s a permit or a harvest, you have to learn that sitting in a waiting room is just as productive as signing a contract. The art of patience became extremely important. You aren’t losing time; you’re following the rules of the game.
2. The power of the “dumb” question. Experts often stop asking “why” because they’ve done things the same way for years. By being a novice, you see the gaps they’ve become blind to. Asking the simple questions that insiders ignore is often the fastest way to find a solution no one else thought was possible.
3. Unlearn to relearn. Your past success can be a mental block if you try to force old solutions onto new problems. You have to be willing to press the “reset” button on your ego so you can actually see the reality in front of you. Business leaders need to unlearn many things when required.

I learned that while my old knowledge was useless in this new world, being willing to start from zero was the only thing that made me a leader again.

I happily embraced the role of the novice as I saw a clear opportunity that many others couldn’t. The most important skill of an entrepreneur is not expertise; it’s the ability to become a beginner over and over again.