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For more than a decade, Thumbtack has been steadily carving out a niche for itself. As one of the co-founders, Sander Daniels (Twitter, LinkedIn) worked day and night in the early days to get the company off the ground. He was powered by a belief that everything would work and that what they were building would be great, and he spread that message to all he encountered. But was that messaging actually undercutting him as a leader?

“If I were ever under any illusions previously about what I was good and not good at, well, then in that moment they were entirely shattered.”

It turns out that the way you communicate is deeply important, and learning to do so effectively — including how to give and receive feedback — is paramount in scaling a company. Sander learned this lesson the hard way, and his journey provides helpful lessons to anyone trying to navigate their way through building a healthy company culture and strong leadership team.