I recently went one on one with Alex Quilici. Alex is the founder and CEO of YouMail, a provider of security-first, cloud-based communication services for mobile phones, and was the co-founder of Quack.com, which was acquired by AOL. Alex holds several voice-service related patents and has written a series of best-selling computer science textbooks.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Alex: I am a computer scientist, who was always thinking about how to better solve problems in my own life.  With two partners, we decided to solve a problem of not knowing how much something cost when you’re in the store (before smartphones).  One thing led to another and we had a company, which ultimately sold to AOL for a meaningful amount.  That led to building consumer products at AOL, and then ultimately my current company, YouMail.

The biggest setbacks/difficulties were raising money as unknown entrepreneurs, and then overcoming challenges at YouMail, when the original business plan of selling to carriers failed.

Adam: How did you come up with your business ideas? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?

Alex: Find a problem that you think you can solve better than anyone else.  All of us encounter things we’d like to work better or differently.  As an entrepreneur, it’s our job to find problems that others care about, and that where we can solve it.

Adam: How did you know your business ideas were worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?

Alex: With our first company, everyone I talked to liked being able to shop online, but hated having to prepare when they were buying a big thing.  They wanted a solution in the store, which led us to being able to shop by voice over a 1-800 (which actually led to creating a Siri-like experience over a 1-800-number).  With my recent company, it was realizing that people were using greeting features of our voicemail service to block robocallers – and deciding we could do that automatically.

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your businesses? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?

Alex: This really depends on the business.  The big thing is to be willing to try different ways to get your customers – whether it’s advertising, or trying to build and take advantage of word of mouth, or whether there are great partners.  It’s being open, active, and willing to test.   Once you find one, then figure out  how to start scaling it– whether it’s bringing on people or money or both.  You can’t do it all yourself, so you have to figure out what you lack. 

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?

Alex: It’s not what you can do for your customer, but what you can do for them.  Think about the problem you’re solving for them, who they are, how they talk about it, and where they go to find solutions for it.  

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Alex: Effective leaders are ones who get others to believe in the mission and start building and driving their teams to get there.   A really big part is listening, being willing to admit mistakes, and making sure you’re not standing in the way of the team.

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?

Alex: Hire really good people, make sure they are aligned, and then get out of the way as much as possible.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

Alex: Focus on making a big difference.

Ignore naysayers.

Listen. 

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Alex: Don’t worry about spilled milk.  You can’t let mistakes keep you moving forward – which is why cars have small rearview mirrors and large front windows, and not the other way around.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Alex: I’m really lucky to have a job I would do without getting paid (and actually did for a while – but that’s another story).  The closer you can come to that, the more likely you are to succeed.