Today's Entrepreneur: Gabriel Fairman

Don't over-rely on other people's theories rather than on your own intuition and empiricism

Today's Entrepreneur is Gabriel Fairman, founder & CEO of Bureau Works. 

Fairman, before diving into the startup world, lived in a Zen Buddhist monastery in Southern Taiwan. At the age of 25, he started his own company, Bureau Works. Bureau Works is a San Francisco-based tech company. It an integrated platform to localize content and products with agility.  

Fairman says for the past 15 years, he has been figuring out how to develop his company in ways that keep him alive, relevant and fulfilled while keeping the product offering fresh and forward facing so that they can continue to add value in the future.

Fairman studied at  Swarthmore College, majoring in what he calls, "The Death and Re-birth of Human Agency." Learn more about Gabriel on his Vator profile.

If you are an entrepreneur, why? 

I'm bursting with ideas!

My favorite startups: Bureau Works

Why did you start your current company? 

Because I was without any direction in life, had a ton of education on my belt, no idea what to do with it, and knew that I did not want to be working in a corporate or academic environment.

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

Most frustrating is having preconceived ideas about what I or the company is supposed to be.

Most rewarding is realizing that I do not need these ideas, that I do not need to be grandiose and that I can find immense fulfillment just through enjoying my day and allowing things to flow.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make? 

I think it's over-relying on others and other people's theories rather than on their own intuition and empiricism.

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

1) Respect yourself - I am the main stakeholder and if I am not happy, there is no point.

2) Love others - Our team and our clients is made up of people. Love and appreciation bring out the best in people. No point in just demanding. It just runs everyone dry.

3) Respect others - People may go about things differently than you would. it does not mean that their approach is not as good. It's challenging to really appreciate the diversity of thought and methodology.

If I could start over what would have I done differently?

That's an unfair and dead-end question. I would have done everything differently given my current experiences, and also would have done everything the same given my access to knowledge at the time.