“Get comfortable being uncomfortable” – that’s what Lindsay LoBue told SSC startups as she recounted the approach she took during a 17-year career on Wall Street that led to Lindsay being crowned as one of Goldman Sachs’ youngest female partners. Whether it was achieving partner status or founding her own financial media company in a gaming industry she was unfamiliar with, Lindsay understood the danger of staying rooted in a place you feared leaving, and that with great risk often comes great return. 

Lindsay had plenty of wisdom to share, stressing the value of being intentional and selective when it comes to advisors, mentors, and feedback. She believes there’s an integral difference between mentors and advisors – mentors are ultimately there for you, while advisors are ultimately there for your company. Though both are valuable in different ways, they can be of the greatest value only when the founder is aware of who is who, and is careful about who they are selecting for each role. Similarly, a founder should only act on feedback when they are selective about who they are choosing to listen to – the giver of the feedback should be directly from the target audience.

Gillian Rozynek, founder of Kured, reflected that she “loved Lindsay’s point on mentors vs. advisors. Lindsay claimed that despite any differences, they both provide a unique sense of support in your life, and because of this, there’s room for both. Lindsay inspired [Gillian] to seek out both mentors and advisors in [her] own life.”