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Since he was “a weird little kid,” Sam Faycurry aspired to attend Harvard Business School. So, when he got accepted to the prestigious program, he and his family were thrilled.
But life had other plans. While helping his mother and sister, both registered dietitians, start their business, Faycurry stumbled into an untapped business opportunity. He and his partner Mark Stefanski founded Fay, a digital platform that connects people with registered dietitians (RDs) who offer personalized nutrition counseling and accept insurance.
Soon, Faycurry realized he couldn’t attend Harvard and run the business at the same time. So, he dropped one dream to pursue another.
Related: 3 Things Your Business Idea Must Have To Succeed — as Proven By Famous Harvard Business School Startups
Today, at 31, he is the co-founder and CEO of Fay, which has raised $25 million in funding and is rapidly changing the landscape and accessibility of nutrition counseling. He talked with me about his journey from helping family members to leading a venture-backed startup on the latest episode of the One Day with Jon Bier podcast. Here are five key entrepreneurial lessons Faycurry learned along the way.
Get down and dirty
Faycurry believes experience is the best teacher. Rather than simply studying how to start a business, he says it’s equally important to get your hands dirty and just do it.
“You read these books and they’re always talking about, ‘Don’t do things that don’t scale.’ What the f— does that mean?” he says. “But then you’re sitting there and you’re doing things that don’t scale, and you’re like, ‘Oh, shit. That’s what they mean.'” This hands-on approach allowed Faycurry to deeply understand the problems in the nutrition industry and develop tailored solutions.
Swallow your pride
Building a successful startup means checking your ego at the door, and setting aside your pride to do menial jobs that might feel like they should be someone else’s problem.
For example, Faycurry recalls his mouth being bone dry from having to lick his fingers to separate mounds of paperwork. “It’s not until you’re doing that that you’re realizing, ‘Oh, this is what it means to be low ego.'”
But he says a willingness to tackle unglamorous tasks head-on was crucial in understanding the intricacies of the industry.
Related: How to Avoid the Double-Edged Sword of Ego in Entrepreneurship
Solve real problems, not intellectual exercises
Before building Fay, he admits to starting companies that were “more like intellectual masturbation.” He describes these early attempts as “horrible ideas” that no one really needed. It wasn’t until he focused on solving a real, tangible problem for his family members that he found success.
“When you’re in this intellectual state, one could be thinking about a lot of problems to solve,” he says. “However, when I found myself helping my mom and my sister start their dietetics private practice, I started to just uncover things that people maybe never saw before.”
Be willing to pivot from your original plan
Despite his lifelong dream of attending Harvard Business School, Faycurry made the difficult decision to drop out when Fay started gaining traction. “It was the most challenging decision because it meant so much to be offered to my family,” he explains. “No one in my family had ever gone there and it was a big source of pride.” This ability to adapt and prioritize the business over personal goals was crucial for Fay’s growth.
Related: Navigating Crucial Business Decisions — How to Know When to Pivot and When to Persevere
Stay hungry
Despite being a market leader, Faycurry and his team are constantly aware of the dangers of complacency. “It’s actually one of our great weaknesses,” he admits, pointing to the need to keep climbing even when they’re at the top of the mountain.
He refers to to a number of instances in the mental healthcare space where the companies that rested on their laurels had to drop out of the race, while those with something to prove stayed in the game.
For this reason, Faycurry says he’s always challenging his team to ask themselves, “How do we maintain that hunger and that drive?”
Throughout his entrepreneurial journey, Faycurry has learned that success often comes from the most unlikely places. He never dreamed his family’s dietician business would derail his Harvard Business School track—but that’s exactly what happened. By focusing on real issues and being willing to do the grunt work, Faycurry has positioned Fay to make a significant impact in the healthcare industry.
Reflecting on his journey from helping his mother and sister with paperwork to leading a venture-backed startup, Faycurry remains confident Fay will make an impact. “This feels like the one,” he says. “Whether it’s successful, I don’t know. I’m not here to say that. But for some reason, in my bones, this feels like it.”
Faycurry’s story reminds us that sometimes the most promising business ideas come from the most unexpected places—even from licking stuck-together papers in a suburban office.
