5 Questions For Founders with Willem Bult

Meditation and Servant Leadership

What motivated me was really seeing the power of meditation in my own journey, and developing an understanding for how it could help myself and others become more present, happier and able to contribute to the world in a more authentic way — to really help people become themselves fully and allow them to send that out into the world as well.

Therefore, a part of it was wanting to understand meditation practice in general, and a second part was a natural impulse for me to want to help others walk that path by connecting them to expert meditation teachers, two of whom are co-founders of Cloud Sangha. We realized that there was a piece missing in the ecosystem that we could provide, which is to help people find a supportive community as they develop their meditation practice. That was the very specific motivation for starting Cloud Sangha.

Then there was also a general desire for me to spend my time and energy on something that was truly meaningful to people. I looked at a bunch of different things and realized that innerwork, and meditation as part of that, is at the core of everything we do. Helping people become more fully themselves allows them to be more successful in whatever it is that they choose to do in the world.

One thing I wish I knew was how hard and complicated it is to coordinate large groups of people as a leader, especially in big organizations. It is difficult to lead a group in a clear direction — to make sure that the work people are doing is actually adding up to something larger, and that people understand where we’re going. I had absolutely no idea about that sort of organizational complexity at the beginning of my journey as a founder, and it’s very helpful to understand it.

When I started my entrepreneurship journey, it was really based on curiosity and play — like “oh, let’s see if we can do this. That seems fun!”. Over time, I realised that there was also an element of wanting to prove myself, that I could build a good company, and that’s not necessarily a great motivation or driving force for starting a business. After my last startup, I actually said I won’t start another company unless I really have to, unless there is something that I just want to work on and nobody else is doing it. Then something came on my path which was worthwhile to work on, and that turned into Cloud Sangha. Thankfully, I no longer feel the need to prove myself in that way.

Another thing that has changed a lot over my journey is that I held some judgment in the beginning about larger companies. I had never worked in a large company, but it just seemed like large companies were slow and I always thought it was much more fun to work at a small startup. However, having gone through the experience of joining a very successful startup, Airbnb, and watching it grow and get through that growth phase really helped me develop a deeper understanding of what it takes to scale an organization to make it successful. I think that experience was actually very important.

There are two factors.

First of all, I just really love being able to have so much creativity in my work — to take time and think about how we can do something in this space and solving all the pieces of the puzzle. I love thinking about the products, but also questions like how do we structure the company, how do we set it up financially, or what resources and what team do we need to hire? All of it coming together, the diversity in challenges, and being able to bring my creativity is really appealing to me.

Secondly, I have this desire to bring something into the world that is truly helpful to people, and at the same time, something that is really authentically me. I really enjoyed working at Airbnb, starting a team there and building it out — that was also a way of channeling myself. However, you’re still part of a larger machine, right? And so, there’s a lot you have to fit into that larger ecosystem, whereas in a startup, you can truly plot your own course.

I think it is critical to look at yourself as a conduit of ideas, and not as the sole creator. To me, this means being open to what arises, because when you start a company, you have some idea of what it might become, but it’s very likely not going to become that. Hence, if you cling too much to it, you’ll likely experience a sense of failure.

Instead, I believe having a sense of openness to seeing what resonates in the world, and looking at yourself as a conduit for that energy, is more productive — putting something out and letting that energy flow through you. By doing this, you are also not getting too attached, and you’re letting go of your ego. After all, it’s not me doing it — it is me sensing what is out there, looking at all the signals, and then feeding that back to the team and seeing what the team does with it.

This also resonates with the idea of servant leadership — that the leader is really just there to support the team. This focuses on how a leader can empower the team as much as possible to do their best work, and support them where needed. While I think you can probably be a successful founder without this mindset, you’ll be a lot more successful with it.

As a meditator, I have to say meditation, right?

To draw upon the inner resources and take a step back. You get back to center and quiet the mind — you see that all the things that are going on right now are just more waves in a vast ocean, and that everything is temporary. If there are difficult times, I try to step back from that and look at it as an observer, and see how my mind responds to whatever difficulty is present in the moment.

There’s a certain humor in that, observing the silliness in my own mind and then being able to take some distance and not get caught up in it. For me, It’s very calming and allows me to go back in and just do the things that I can affect and not worry so much about the things I cannot, trusting that everything will work out the way it needs to.

To dive even deeper into Willem’s discovery of his place within the startup community, check out our podcast episode with him (and hosts Maria Sipka & Stacey Lawson), available on all major podcast platforms!

Find us on: Spotify, Apple Music, Google Podcast, Red Circle & Stitcher