YEC Member Spotlight: Ronnie Castro, VP Growth, Porch
Ronnie Castro is co-founder of Porch, a startup aimed at helping people manage and love their biggest asset — their home. He has operations, revenue generating and customer acquisition experience with Google, Expedia and WildTangent. Follow him @rcastro831.
Who is your hero?
Mahatma Gandhi.
What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?
“Don’t dress for the job you’re in, dress for the one you want to be in.” My boss who told me this meant it quite literally at the time but I’ve always thought about it figuratively with respect to ownership, responsibility and attitude.
What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?
Over-analyzing. Keep it simple, keep it action-oriented. If you don’t get obvious takeaways, then you’re looking at the wrong data in the first place.
What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?
I decide what my top priorities are and commit to fulfilling those before the day is out. It’s too easy to get distracted by “urgent” matters and fighting fires, so that at the end of the day you don’t feel like you actually did anything.
What’s your best financial or cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?
Being frugal is better than being bankrupt.
Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?
Hire people that are smarter than you are.
What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?
This is different for everyone, but for me it’s all about making people happier. If our business makes a significant number of people happier in life, then we’ve succeeded. Financial success and acknowledgement are nice, but I want those things driven by customer satisfaction.
