We spoke with Victor Zhang, Co-Founder & CEO of Trestle, about leadership, identifying winning ideas, and staying productive. Here’s what he had to share:
💡 How do founders know when they’ve found a winning idea? What inspired the creation of Trestle?
"That’s a tough one! The idea for Trestle came from my time leading estimating teams at large infrastructure general contractors. Information transparency was a big problem, especially around subcontractors and vendors, yet it wasn’t really addressed at any of the companies I worked at or with. Even though I was experiencing the problem daily, it still took a lot of time to really get to the root of the problem. I think as founders, especially 1st time ones, it’s easy to get misled by what appears to be real problems at the surface and start building a solution for that, without ever really getting to the actual issue that needs to be addressed. It’s often said that when you find a jackpot idea, you’ll know. Customers start showing up at your doorstep asking for the solution, and I think it really is true."
💬 Is there a mantra or saying you use that helps boost team morale and that your team associates with you?
"Ping me if you need anything, whenever." I don’t know if that’s keeping morale high, but I definitely say it a lot. I do like to eat, so we typically find some good lunch spots every week to have team lunch. That probably helps more with morale!
🏋️ What's your favorite productivity or tech hack right now?:
"Exercise. I find exercising really helps to clear my head, reset, and actually make more grounded decisions. I never thought I’d be someone who runs regularly, but being a founder has definitely changed that. The other is making a list and prioritizing certain items. I like to pick 3 things to focus on completing in a day, otherwise the to-do list never stops growing and it’s easy to feel like no day is productive."
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