Persistence and a willingness to learn from peers paid off for Lily Cua, co-founder and COO of Aspire. Cua’s startup helps companies connect with local vendors to offer more attractive employee perks and benefits.
Aspire, which grew out of the Acceleprise tech incubator, closed a $400,000 seed round in 2014. Cua told DC Inno a bit about how she sees her company growing and what makes D.C. a unique place to lead a startup.
How do you challenge yourself to think differently from other people in the industry?
The first thing is, I surround myself with people who are smarter than I am and who have different perspectives. Luckily, the nature of my job allows me to do that. We’re in constant communication and discussion about what we should be doing, trends, what’s working and what’s not working, and that challenges me to think differently.
Because I do client-facing activities, I’m working with people who are in the industry with years of experience. Seeing what they’ve done in the past informs how I filter out different tactics and ideas.
Where do you find inspiration?
In terms of finding inspiration, a lot of it is looking at the local entrepreneurs in D.C. When I started, I came from PricewaterhouseCoopers. I really wanted to reach out to local entrepreneurs who started their own businesses and were at different stages of growth and success. That’s inspirational to me because everyone has his or her own path. You’ll never be able to fully replicate what someone else has done, but hearing about what other people have dealt with motivates me. It shows that if you work really hard and if you’re really persistent, you can see the cool companies that have come out of seemingly nothing. Hopefully we can follow in their footsteps.
What job have you had that has had the greatest impact on your career?
I would definitely say that my job at Aspire has been the most influential by far, but one job is not going to define your career. Every job that you take, absorb everything and learn everything that you can. There’s always something you can learn from those opportunities, whether it’s new foundational skills or learning about the things you don’t like. Every job has been formative in my career in different ways. What I’ve done here at Aspire, because it’s been like 10 jobs rolled into one, has shaped my career path in ways that I couldn’t have imagined. I knew that it was going to be different and challenging, but I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into. It’s been rewarding and challenging.
How will your industry change in the next five years?
I think the HR industry has been in transition for the last couple of years. When we started working on Aspire, the idea of perks and investing in your people was something that everyone was talking about and believed in on the surface. How to do that effectively has evolved over the past two years.
A proactive approach to HR and figuring out how you can retain your people will overcome legacy HR practices. It’s not just the tech companies. It takes a couple of advocates in a company, especially at the leadership level. By 2020, 75 percent of the workforce will be millennials. That means things will have to change, and people figuring out how to innovate and develop unique practices will be ahead of the game.
We’re in the eye of the tornado here. I’m really excited about what it’s going to look like in the next few years. The best companies will be constantly evaluating and reacting to the trends. You have to keep a pulse on what employees want.
How is Washington, D.C., unique when it comes to innovation?
I think one of the cool things about being in D.C. right now is that it’s still a young entrepreneurship community. Because you’re in an entrepreneur community in its infancy, you’re seeing strong connections developing. Everyone is willing to help and support each other.
I’ve been lucky to be involved in different groups and organizations. Anyone that’s in the D.C. startup community understands that we’re in this period of growth and building, and everyone wants to be a part of that. It’s a time of support and trying to create opportunities for everyone else so we can all grow together.
Who do you admire in D.C.?
Two companies I’m extremely impressed by are The Motley Fool and Optoro. (Motley Fool CEO) Tom Gardner has become a friend and advisor. They’re very innovative in the way they think about investing in their people. I’ve talked to him about how you work with your people. They have a mindset of constant iteration and testing and they’re always pushing the boundaries. Hopefully companies can catch up to what they’re trying to accomplish.
The other company that I’ve been really motivated by and their leadership team is the Optoro. Working with (CEO) Tobin (Moore) as an advisor and hearing about the business he built over the last few years has been motivating and exciting. Emily White, the director of culture and talent there, is a fellow Georgetown alum and she’s doing incredible things with culture and ad-ops.
What would you change about D.C. or D.C. tech scene?
I don’t know if this is something we can change from the inside out, but I think that there’s still the perception that everything here is about the government. When I travel and talk to people, people think D.C. is all about government and it’s frustrating for me because I see so many cool things happening in the city.
When you start to see companies and communities like 1776 crop up a little bit more and promote companies in all industries, we can change that perception and you’ll have more talent and businesses coming to D.C.
What’s something that you do every single day, no matter what you have going on?
I work out in the morning every day. I joke that it’s the one way to keep my sanity. I lose my equilibrium if I don’t have that. For me, working out in the morning is my one hour to myself, and I focus on things not related to work so I can recharge for the day.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs looking to progress with their business?
I would say two things: One, make sure to reach out to other entrepreneurs and hear about their stories. Really pick their brain for any feedback or advice they can give you. There are people out there who have done this before and they’ve encountered different success and challenges. Everyone in the entrepreneur world is extremely willing and excited to help up-and-coming entrepreneurs.
The second is, be persistent. I tend to want to fall onto, let’s see if someone else has done this or if there’s a right or wrong answer. A lot of times, there isn’t. But if you can be persistent and combine that with a sense of modesty, I think that’s really important. You’ll be faced with a lot of uncertainty and challenges. I believe that hard work can pay off, so be prepared to take on that load and build a business against all odds.
