Martin LeBlanc from Iconfinder: Never expect to be in control

This article is a part of our content-partner program and is made in collaboration with DI ITEK. DI ITEK is an organization that aims to give Danish businesses the best conditions possible to develop, among other things by offering consultancy concerning staff, international service, productivity and competence development. DI ITEK is part ofthe European campaign, Watify, which aims to support digital entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are given the first year of membership of DI ITEK for free.

“The extra responsibility and stress, that comes from running a company is difficult to cope with. It feels like running a marathon. Every day. There are no breaks”. That is how Martin LeBlanc, founder and CEO of Iconfinder, describes the life as an entrepreneur. Read along here and learn more about his thoughts about an entrepreneurial lifestyle. By Mia Grosen.

Iconfinder is a search engine for icons used mostly by web designers and developers. And a popular one. With 2,5 million visits per month from all over the world and seven employees, Iconfinder is definitely among those Danish startups, you would categorize as succesful. The road to succes is often described as a tough one, but would you expect it to be easier, once you are there?

An entrepreneurial spirit 

Martin LeBlanc has a background as a webdesigner- and developer, and it was through this work he got the idea for Iconfinder. Through his own needs, he saw a gap in the market, and mixed up with his entrepreneurial mindset, Iconfinder became a reality:

“There has always been a large part of me which is creative, and creating something new is something I actively strive for. For many years I made myself a promise that I should launch at least one major thing per year – that be a new company, a new mobile app or a web service.” 

All entrepreneurs know that starting up a new project is a time consuming thing. And not just time consuming, also tough. Especially if your project fails. When being asked for how long he would continue this stream of new projects, Martin LeBlancs simple answer is:

“I would stop when I had hit on something, that could become a successful company.”

That he did with Iconfinder.

Loose control – and accept it 

When you know you are in the making of something big, you easily loose control. Not just control of your rapidly growing business, but also control in most things surrounding it. Your business becomes your life. Martin LeBlanc explains:

“I was all hyped about it and worked on it day and night. I’ve never felt I had everything under control at any point – I think if you have to move fast enough, you have to be able to loose control and accept that chaos is a part of building a business.”

Having no control also includes your business plan. There are too many factors, that can not be measured, so in the end, Martin LeBlanc emphasizes, a business plan does not matter much. Instead of spending your time working on a business plan, that is most of all going to be build on guesswork anyway, aim your focus on building the right team:

“It’s more important to team up with the right people and take care of your health and stay motivated. Nothing can kill a company quicker that a dysfunctional team. If you have smart people on your team, and you are working well together, you will figure out what to do,” Martin LeBlanc says.

Share your frustrations 

It almost speaks for itself: Letting go of control causes a lot of frustration. It is stressful, and it makes you doubt. That is a certain fact. The question is how you deal with it – and how not to deal with it. Martin LeBlanc says:

“There are so many challenges when building a company, but I try not to share my doubts and concerns too much with my friends and family as the concerns are often very specific and can be hard for people outside of the company to recognize and understand”

Instead Martin LeBlanc again empasizes the importance of a well established team:

“The best people to share concerns with have been board members and co-founders. They know what is going on, and can ofte give the best feedback,” Martin LeBlanc explains.

Although it all sounds like a big strugle, and it is, Martin LeBlanc finally emphasizes how it is all worth it in the end:

“Despite of it being hard, the joy and excitement of starting up a business is bigger – and I will encourage everyone to do it. It has never been easier to start up a business in Denmark than it is now and I believe it will become a way more popular choice of career”

To learn more about Iconfinder, you can visit their website. 

If you want to learn, how you can make use of the advisers from the Watify campaign, click here.