Writing by Matt Menietti. Matt is the former Executive Director of GlobalHack, a St. Louis-based nonprofit that organizes civic-focused software competitions and youth coding programs. Before GlobalHack, Matt ran day-to-day operations for SixThirty and Capital Innovators, two nationally-ranked startup accelerator programs that provide early-stage tech companies with seed funding, mentorship, and valuable industry connections. He is an alumni of the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs, an intense, cross-sector, experiential learning program based in St. Louis, Missouri and currently serves on the Board of Directors for FOCUS St. Louis, a civic leadership organization. Originally from Iowa City, Matt is an avid champion and advocate for the St. Louis startup community, and has organized several volunteer-led hackathons, meetups, and events.

Through my time with startup accelerators and incubators I notice the behaviors of a lot of startup founders. Listening to other venture capitalists or startup mentors, a lot of them kept referring to a “hunger” quality, which was something that I didn’t immediately grasp. “We’re not sure [ name ] is hungry enough.” they would say. I think the term ‘hungry’ in this context has a few applications:

• Hungry animals will do anything to survive. The same can apply to entrepreneurs.
• Hungry entrepreneurs typically work long hours and might have a tendency to skip meals. So the term “hungry” applies in a literal sense.
• Hungry entrepreneurs are passionate about their business and are eager (or hungry) to get to work each day.

So, without further ado, here’s my list:

Hungry entrepreneurs:

1. Always follow-up.
2. Know when to take a hour long meeting or a 30 minute call.
3. Ask for the sale.
4. Using closing language (let me know if you’re interested vs can I sign you up today?). Get them to sign on the line that is dotted.
5. Don’t measure their business by 1) money raised 2) # of press articles.
6. Are incredibly selective about which networking events to attend.
7. Are on-time / meet the deadline.
8. Pay themselves a meager salary (or none to start out)
9. Can deal with rejection.
10. Can work with minimal sleep.
11. Skip the lunch and learn workshop.
12. Set goals for meetings. No goal = no meeting.
13. Seek to move the conversation forward.
14. Aren’t below any job in the company.
15. Go out of their way to make their clients happy.
16. Successfully balance education (reading articles, asking for advice) with action (actually applying the learning they’ve received).
17. Take the time to develop relationships.
18. Are decisive.
19. Know their KPIs. Know their numbers.
20. Remove distractions.
21. Take care of their most important tasks in the morning.
22. Celebrate their successes / milestones.