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Because he was a “weird little kid,” Sam Faycurry dreamed of attending Harvard Business School. So when he was accepted into the prestigious program, he and his family were thrilled.
But life had other plans. While helping his mother and sister, each dietitians, start their very own businesses, Faycurry stumbled upon an untapped business opportunity. He and his partner, Mark Stefanski, founded Fairya digital platform connecting people with registered dietitians (RDs) who offer personalized nutrition advice and accept insurance.
Faycurry soon realized he couldn’t attend Harvard and run a business at the same time, so he gave up one dream to pursue one other.
Today, at 31, he’s the co-founder and CEO of Fay, which has raised $25 million in funding and is rapidly changing the landscape and availability of nutrition counseling. He spoke with me about his journey from helping members of the family to running a venture-backed startup on the latest episode of the One Day with Jon Bier podcast. Here are five key entrepreneurial lessons Faycurry has learned along the way.
Get down to earth and get dirty
Faycurry believes that have is the best teacher. Rather than simply learning how to start a business, he says it’s just as vital to get your hands dirty and just do it.
“You read these books and they keep talking about not doing things that aren’t scalable. What the hell does that mean?” he says. “But then you sit there and do things that aren’t scalable and you think, ‘Oh shit. This is what they mean.’” That hands-on approach has allowed Faycurry to deeply understand the problems in the food industry and develop tailored solutions.
Swallow your pride
Building a successful startup means leaving your ego at the door and putting your pride aside to take on the easy tasks that will look like another person’s problem.
For example, Faycurry recalls that his mouth was dry from licking his fingers to separate stacks of papers. “It’s only when you do it that you realize, ‘Oh, this is what it means to have a low ego.’”
However, he claims that a willingness to take on unglamorous tasks was key to understanding the intricacies of the industry.
Solve real problems, not mental exercises
Before he founded Fay, he admits he started corporations that were “more like intellectual masturbation.” He describes those early attempts as “terrible ideas” that no one really needed. It wasn’t until he focused on solving a real, tangible problem for his members of the family that he found success.
“When you’re in that intellectual state, you can think of a lot of problems to solve,” he says. “But when I helped my mom and sister start their private nutrition practice, I started discovering things that people might not have seen before.”
Be willing to deviate from your original plan
Despite his lifelong dream of attending Harvard Business School, Faycurry made the difficult decision to drop out when Fay began to gain popularity. “It was the hardest decision because the offer meant so much to my family,” he explains. “No one in my family had ever been there, and it was a huge source of pride for me.” That ability to adapt and put business above personal goals was key to Fay’s rise.
Stay hungry
Despite being a market leader, Faycurry and his team are consistently aware of the dangers of complacency. “It’s actually one of our biggest weaknesses,” he admits, pointing to the need to keep climbing, even when they’re at the top of the mountain.
It refers to a series of cases in the mental health care industry where corporations that rested on their laurels were forced to drop out of the race, while those with something to prove stayed in the game.
For that reason, Faycurry says he at all times challenges his team to ask themselves, “How do we keep that hunger and that motivation going?”
Throughout his entrepreneurial journey, Faycurry has learned that success often comes from the most unexpected places. He never dreamed that his family’s food plan business would derail his path to Harvard Business School—but that’s exactly what happened. By focusing on real problems and being willing to work hard, Faycurry has prepared Fay to make a significant impact on the healthcare industry.
Reflecting on his journey from helping his mother and sister fill out paperwork to running a venture-backed startup, Faycurry stays confident that Fay will make an impact. “This feels like the one,” he says. “I don’t know if it’s going to work. I’m not here to say. But for some reason, deep down, I feel that way.”
Faycurry’s story reminds us that the most promising business ideas sometimes come from the most unexpected places – even while licking a pile of papers in a suburban office.