How I Succeeded: Fluent Commerce’s Mehdi Fassaie

How I Succeeded is a regular series on Lifehacker where we ask business leaders for the secrets and tactics behind their success. Today: Mehdi Fassaie, co-founder and president of Fluent Commerce.
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Current gig: Co-founder and president of Fluent Commerce.
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Location: Our Australian head office in Surry Hills, Sydney.
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Current mobile device: I’m enjoying the Samsung Galaxy S8+ – go big!
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Current computer: I’m a fan of my Macbook Pro.
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One word that best describes how you work: Driven
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What social network do you find the most useful?

I find LinkedIn and Twitter most useful for business and increasingly Instagram.

What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?

For emails and task management I can’t live without Gmail with ActiveInbox. For team messaging, Slack streamlines all our communications.

What were the most important lessons you learned while growing your business?

That delivery is more important than perfection. Growing a business is like riding a rollercoaster, there will be massive highs and massive lows. During the massive lows, you’ll decide if running a start-up is really for you. The biggest challenge when scaling a business and building a team is maintaining the start-up mentality and the determination to always challenge the status quo.

What has been the most surprising part of your business journey?

Finding out that what I enjoy most is building new things and learning about all areas of the business.

What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?

My marketing team told me to say, “instead of focussing on what I’m best at, I think it’s crucial for our business that I look at what I’m not good at and hire people who are.” In actual fact, I’m really good at joking at the most awkward moments.

What’s your sleep routine like?

We’ve recently started focusing on international expansion, which has meant a lot of travelling for me. As a result, I no longer have a sleep routine!

What advice would you offer to other businesses on how to succeed?

The most crucial thing for your growing business is hiring the right people. Skills and knowledge can be taught. What is more important is that you find smart people with a can-do attitude.