Today's Entrepreneur: Rephael Sweary

It is my belief that entrepreneurship is not a job, it’s your being

Today's entrepreneur is Rephael Sweary, co-founder and president of digital adoption platform WalkMe. 

WalkMe enables all online publishers and ISVs to create interactive on-screen 'Walk-Thrus' that assist end-users to quickly and easily complete even the most complex tasks.

Previously, Rephael was the co-founder, CEO and then president of Jetro Platforms, which was acquired in 2007.

Since then, he has funded and helped build a number of companies both in his role as entrepreneur-in-residence at Ocean Assets and in a personal capacity.

Rephael has an MBA from the University of Baltimore.

I am a(n):

Entrepreneur

Companies I've founded or co-founded:

WalkMe, Jetro Platforms

Companies I work or worked for:

WalkMe

If you are an entrepreneur, why?

I’ve always had an entrepreneur’s mindset and have always been an entrepreneur my entire life . Even as a child, I founded my own car wash company.

My favorite startups:

My favorite startups are the ones that sound the most insane. If someone would have presented the idea of Twitter or Airbnb to me, my initial thoughts would be that it could never work. However, the reality is that they were extremely successful and were able to achieve their success in such a short time.

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

It is my belief that entrepreneurship is not a job, it’s your being. Your venture is an integral part of your life, it is always with you. For me, the highs and the lows are not based on results, but are based on execution. If a company is performing at its best and reaching targets, I would still not feel the high because I am busy with the execution.

Another frustrating thing is the dissonance between your personal and the work relationship that you have with people at work. In many cases, there is no other choice than to put the business and professional aspect first. For example, you may be in a situation when you need to separate from someone that you appreciate professionally and like personally because of organizational issues.

Additionally, this dissonance continues when you find a difference between how you act in your personal life and how you act in your business life in certain areas like as a business owner you may be required to oversee and manage a budget, when in your personal life, you may not always be as attentive.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?

The number one mistake I’ve noticed entrepreneurs make is when they’re driven by their ego. Decisions that are made based on ego are based on the wrong motivation, and may cause wrong decisions.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1. The more experience I have, the more I value experience.

2. You have to believe in something to make it happen. If you don’t believe that it will happen, it isn’t going to happen.

3. You can’t be afraid of your board of directors, and if you are, you have the wrong board. The board is there for the company to share challenges and brainstorm alternatives. All should be based on trust. For you, the board is an internal discussion, not external. The combination of a trustworthy board and the ability for an open dialogue will create a source of added value where you can really build out your business.