How to stay cautious without losing trust

Nobody talks about this hardest part of being a founder: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Being cheated is part of the every founder journey. And it didn't happen to me just once - it happened often 𝐀 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬. We kept delivering because I thought "relationship matters more than contract." The cheque never came. 𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. The real damage was fixing trust with clients. 𝐀 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 spent his time convincing my team to leave and join him in Delhi. 𝐀𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 after months of due diligence. We faced our team the next morning with no funding news. Each time it hurt because I had “𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅”. For a while, I thought maybe I shouldn't trust people at all. But that wasn't the answer. Every big win at Supersourcing and EngineerBabu also came from trust. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 23-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 500 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝? I stopped trusting blindly. Trust without structure is just hope. And hope doesn't scale businesses. Now I trust with systems: - Contracts that protect both sides - Milestone-based deliveries - Regular check-ins - Transparency as standard I still trust people. But now I also, give autonomy with clear expectations. I stay empathetic but watch for red flags "Believe in second chances, not third ones" 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡: Trust first, protect later 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡: Trust and protect simultaneously The founder who never trusts stays safe but small. The founder who trusts everyone grows fast but crashes hard. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦. Being cheated taught me that trust isn't weakness. Blind trust is. To fellow founders: Don't stop trusting. Just trust smarter. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬. Have you faced something similar? How did you handle it? #founderlife #leadership #startup #success

A client came to me this morning (not happy) and said that their MSP gave them a document to sign stating that the MSP is absolving themselves of all risk because she wouldn't approve the security operations solution they pitched... If your idea of “risk management” is having your client sign a document that says “you tried to sell them a tool or service, and they said no” … ->you're not managing risk. You’re managing your liability. And it shows. This is one of the fastest ways to create distrust, kill rapport, and get fired. It instantly turns the relationship adversarial. You’re no longer a partner or trusted advisor, and they see you as someone shifting blame just in case something goes wrong. That’s not leadership. That’s fear. Let me ask you something, How do you think it makes your client feel when you hand them a paper to sign that says, 'This one’s on you'?” You don’t need a signature to prove they own the risk. They already do. What they need is clarity, collaboration, and leadership. Here’s a better way: -Put the risk on a shared Risk Register. -Document the conversation in context, not as a threat, but as a roadmap. -Identify compensating controls you can implement. -Make the risk visible to decision-makers...NOT to blame, but to educate. -Revisit it periodically. Shrink it over time. That’s how you build trust. That’s how you protect the relationship. And that’s how you lead clients through risk & not around it. If you frame risk as a “you didn’t buy the thing, so you’re at fault” moment, you’re losing the negotiation before it even starts. But if you treat it like a shared challenge that you’ll solve together, you build a long-term partnership. One built on truth, not transactions. Stop asking for signatures. Start showing leadership. Your clients won’t forget it...and neither will your churn rate. #msp #ciso #riskmanagement #business

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲... In 2022, as a growing organization, I wanted to give back to my university by hiring interns from there. We needed talent, and I thought my university was the best place to find it. I hired ten interns, two of whom, Mr. X and Mr. Y, were taken on full-time. The others, being from different cities, chose not to pursue full-time positions. Mr. X and Mr. Y initially seemed promising. However, within three months, they started making excuses for taking leave and eventually decided to leave after minor arguments. Understanding that it might be a case of immaturity, I let it go. Two months later, Mr. X and Mr. Y called, apologized, and expressed a desire to return. Believing in second chances, especially for someone from my university, I rehired them. Six months later, Mr. X and Mr. Y approached me urgently. Mr. X said his grandfather had been in an accident and needed money for treatment, while Mr. Y had some financial issues at home due to business losses. They requested various documents, including offer letters, salary slips, and experience letters, explaining they needed them to secure loans. Given the sensitivity of the situation, we provided them with everything they needed. To my surprise, ten days later, they informed me that they had received better job offers and decided to leave. We released them in good faith. After leaving, they remained in contact with our employees, often meeting and having conference calls with them. While I instructed my team to avoid sharing confidential information, Mr. X and Mr. Y began to approach my team members to join their new company. Recently, Mr. X and Mr. Y left their current organization and started poaching employees from both their past and my company. They even tried to entice my team members with promises of higher salaries and other benefits. 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬: 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: It's important to balance trust and caution. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Not everyone will reciprocate your goodwill. 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬: As a growing organization, having a legal team is crucial to protect your interests. 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: This can prevent misuse of trust. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: Don’t share these with individuals who are solely money-oriented, as it can harm the entire community. While this experience has been challenging, it has also been a valuable learning opportunity for our organization. We remain committed to growth and improvement, ensuring that we take the necessary precautions to protect our team and company culture.