The Brutal Truth About Building a High-Growth Startup: Lessons from the Trenches & Traits of Successful Startups

Building a high-growth startup is one of the most grueling challenges you can take on. It doesn’t matter if you’re in SaaS, financial services, CPG, cybersecurity, or professional services, the grind is universal. Over the past 16+ years, I’ve worn many hats: employee, advisor, consultant, and founder. I’ve been in the room when the cash is running dry, worked alongside sales teams chasing seemingly impossible targets, and run countless message tests to find the hook that finally moves the needle.

The truth? I’ve seen far more failures than successes. That’s a tough reality to face, but it’s also where the real lessons live. Sure, I’ve been part of a few breakout wins, but I’ve also watched plenty of startups crash and burn for countless reasons. Through it all, I’ve noticed patterns - not from boardrooms or investor pitches, but from the trenches, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with founders and teams fighting to survive.

Here’s what I’ve learned about the traits that separate the 5% of startups that succeed from the 95% that don’t. These 6 traits of successful startups aren’t theoretical insights; they’re forged in the chaos of real-world execution.

The 6 Traits of Successful Startups

1. They Execute Relentlessly

Successful startups don’t just talk about strategy - they do the work. They move fast, create accountability, and drive progress daily. A beautiful pitch deck means nothing if it’s not backed by action. A flawless strategy means absolutely nothing if you walk out of that door and nothing gets done. Execution is about turning ideas into reality, even when the odds feel stacked against you.

The best teams I've been a part of execute flawlessly. When they call a shot, they shoot it, and they almost always make it. Their mentality is that the job isn't done until the job is done. Simple as that. They don't make excuses. And they hold each other accountable. If you can't adopt that mentality, the whole startup thing may not be right for you (tough love, I know).

2. They Learn Constantly

The best startups treat learning as a lifeline. They test hypotheses, validate assumptions, and iterate based on real feedback. Most importantly, they listen to their customers like their survival depends on it—because it does. This isn’t about ego; it’s about building something people actually want.

Customer insights is crucial to early success. The best companies I've worked with treat learning and customer feedback as a guide for product, positioning, messaging, and strategy. With that said, they make sure to not take one opinion as gospel. They leverage quantitative and qualitative feedback to tell the whole story before making decisions.

3. They Stay Laser-Focused

Distraction is a startup killer. Successful founders know their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) inside and out. They build for them, retain them, and turn them into raving advocates. In today’s world, they go even further - creating communities around their customers and centering their mission on their needs. Shiny objects? They don’t chase them.

It's easier to mention here that almost all of the companies I've worked with that struggled to achieve break-through growth, focus (or lack-thereof) was a big reason reason why. Startups by nature are constrained by a variety of things, including cash, people, and time. Spreading yourself too thin is a recipe for failure, even if you mask it as "putting a bunch of chips on the table."

4. They’re Relentless

Grit and obsession are non-negotiable. The best founders have an almost irrational drive to keep going, no matter how brutal the journey gets. They don’t just survive setbacks - they thrive in them. And in many ways, the setbacks are what help them create moats in the future. This relentlessness is what carries them through the inevitable lows of startup life.

I advise a remarkably successful CPG brand in a highly regulated industry and the barriers they've had to jump through the last 6 years are not for the faint of heart. But they continue to figure it out, time and time again. They don't feel sorry for themselves or make excuses. They figure out a path forward or pivot directions if they have to.

5. They Make Decisions Quickly and Accurately

Speed and quality aren’t mutually exclusive for successful startups. The best founders know when to trust their gut and when to lean on data. They don’t get paralyzed by indecision; they act, learn, and adjust. This balance of intuition and evidence is what keeps them ahead of the curve.

At Circle Forward, we view decision making velocity as critical to successful scaling. We've even designed a framework around how to make better, and faster, decisions. Great CEOs use our framework instinctively. What decisions require time, deliberation, data, and analysis? Which decisions are best made quickly and swiftly?

6. They’re Disciplined with Cash

Cash is oxygen, and successful startups treat it that way. They obsess over unit economics, track Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) payback periods, and optimize marketing and sales efficiency. They manage their runway as if they’ll never raise another dollar, because they might not! This discipline isn’t sexy, but it’s often the difference between survival and collapse.

A successful founder I've worked with was so obsessed with digital ROAS in order to not increase burn and therefore diminish their runway that it was the number one metric he focused on daily. That's where a lot of the cash was going, to marketing. So it's not crazy. It's simply sensible cash management.

Why These Traits Matter

These insights aren’t groundbreaking, but they’re consistently the difference between startups that make it and those that don’t. The startup world is unforgiving. Full of long nights, tough calls, and moments when giving up feels like the only option. But the teams that execute relentlessly, learn constantly, stay focused, push through setbacks, decide wisely, and guard their cash? They’re the ones who break through.

If you’re building a startup, take a hard look at your team and your processes. Are you embodying these traits? If not, it’s time to course-correct. The road is brutal, but for the 5% that make it, it’s worth every second of the fight.

What’s your experience with startups? Have you seen these traits in action, or do you have other lessons from the trenches? I’d love to hear your stories—drop them in the comments or connect with me directly.

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