Lessons in Entrepreneurship with Ben Huh

"Are you going to be an entrepreneur or somebody with an idea?"

This question from Ben Huh cuts to the heart of what separates dreamers from doers in the startup world. The serial entrepreneur who popularized the viral phenomena I Can Has Cheezburger? and FAIL Blog, and now co-founder of Orange DAO, knows a thing or two about translating ideas into empire-building reality. 

In a candid interview with the GRTiQ podcast, Ben shares hard-earned wisdom that every founder needs to hear. From scaling a cat meme website into a digital media empire to now building the largest network of venture-backed founders in crypto, his journey serves as a powerful example of entrepreneurial agility. 

In this blog, we break down Ben's insights on the power of belief, adaptability, failure, and why the path between "I believe" and "they believe" is a road every founder must walk alone.

Buckle up, builders. This is a reality check on what it truly takes to thrive as an entrepreneur.

1. The Journey of Building a Startup: Embrace the Grind

Speaking with host Nick Hansen, Ben breaks down the startup journey into three distinct phases: pre-product market fit, growth, and maturity. But real entrepreneurship lives in those first two messy, uncertain stages. 

"An entrepreneur is willing to do what other people have decided, consciously [or] unconsciously, [is] not worth it," Ben explains. While many dream of running a mature company, great founders thrive in the messiness of building from scratch. They're the ones doing the unscalable tasks, entering unproven markets, and tackling the problems others deem too difficult or not worth the effort. 

The secret? Embrace the grind. When Ben talks about "roll[ing] up your sleeves when no one else is willing to," he's describing what sets apart successful entrepreneurs. They recognize the early phases of the startup journey as a grind—and embrace it as the crucible where great companies are forged.

2. Belief Is Your Superpower

At the core of every entrepreneurial success story is a deep, unwavering belief—in yourself, your idea, your market, and your team.

"You have to enter markets that no one believes in. And you have to make it work," Ben emphasizes. The real challenge is to bridge the chasm between your belief and everyone else's. 

As Ben puts it, "The translation layer between 'I believe' to 'they believe' is only going to be you. There is no one else." 

He points to his own experience turning a "cat picture website" into a digital media empire. "It's a weird thing to say even today," he acknowledges. He had to have a fundamental belief in his ability to build something—otherwise, it never would've happened the way it did.

Remember: every legendary founder started with something that sounded impossible to everyone else. Your job is to make them believers, too.

3. Listening: The Underrated Founder Skill

Yet belief alone isn't enough. Ben's approach combines unwavering belief with relentless customer focus. 

If you believe in yourself and your team, that's great, he says. With those two ingredients, "you can build something, but it's not going to be valuable until you listen to your customers." That's because building a successful company isn't about what you want—it's about what your customers need. You need to obsess over customer feedback and live in their world. 

"You have to talk to them," Ben notes. "You have to serve them. You have to understand what their life is like and to build something that they love to use."

Listening is where value creation begins. Success ultimately lies in this delicate balance: having the courage to bet on your vision while remaining flexible enough to let your customers shape it.

4. Conviction: The Right Kind Matters

When Nick asks about the importance of conviction, Ben reiterates that conviction doesn't mean stubbornly sticking to your original vision. In fact, the idea you start out with and the assumptions you had about the market are going to be wrong in most cases—especially if you're a first-timer. 

"If you have conviction that you are right, then you are going to be wrong," Ben states bluntly. "If you have conviction that you will figure it out, then you're going to be okay." 

This shift in mindset makes all the difference. As Ben points out, it opens you up to listening to customers and to people who have gone before you. The goal isn't to be right; it's to have the determination to find what's right—to adapt, pivot, and learn.

The market always has the final say. "The market has more money, and the market can outlast you," Ben warns. You can either be the entrepreneur who adapts to survive or just somebody with an idea who refuses to listen.

5. Luck: The Elephant in the Room

The uncomfortable truth is that luck absolutely plays a role in success. And there's a survivorship bias when it comes to the narratives we hear around entrepreneurship.

"The stuff you don't hear could fill the Internet, [...] just like we don't talk about failures," Ben says. Yet it's important to talk about and dissect them. Not only do failures serve as a lesson, but they also tend to follow predictable patterns.

Ben asserts that 99% of business failures fall into just three categories: 

1. Not raising enough money. 

2. Not having the right team. 

3. Not listening to customers. 

Failure is easy to pattern-match—but the same isn't true for success. Trying to replicate another founder's success story is often a recipe for failure. 

"You can't succeed the same way that somebody who went before you was successful. It's very hard to do," Ben explains. "One successful entrepreneur creates too much competition to follow them."

The takeaway? Study the failure patterns to avoid them, but be prepared to write your own unique success story.

6. Partnering with Ambition: Lessons from Sam Altman

"Let's call the president of Mexico." If that's not a typical line from your startup brainstorming sessions, you might be dreaming too small. 

Ben recalls his time working with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, as a masterclass in ambitious thinking. "The logical outcome of the discussions we had just [made us sound] like insane, crazy people." Need expertise on special economic zones? Why not reach out to a Nobel laureate? 

What made it work was the ability to move from moonshot thinking to quick decisions and practical action in seconds. As Ben observes, "The vast majority of entrepreneurs fail with their partners because their ambitions don't match." 

With Altman, however, the ambition alignment was electric. While most people would get stuck on "Can we really do this?", Altman's response was simple: "Okay. Let's do it."

The lesson here is to dream bigger. Then find partners who make your biggest dreams feel like mere starting points.

7. Conclusion: What Founders Can Learn from Ben Huh

Throughout Ben's interview with the GRTiQ podcast, one central theme stands out: entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. 

It requires the courage to believe in yourself and your idea when no one else does, the humility to listen when the market speaks, and the agility to adapt when reality challenges your assumptions. 

While luck undeniably plays a role, success is never formulaic—but failure often is. Founders can avoid common pitfalls by learning from others' failures. 

If you're a founder ready to take the next step,  take Ben's advice to heart. Build your belief, adapt relentlessly, surround yourself with ambitious partners, seek guidance from those who've been there before—and maybe call a Nobel laureate or two.

Applications for the Orange DAO Fellowship W25 are open for the January kickoff.  The deadline to apply is  November 29, 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

Apply here.