𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁! 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 — there’s something special about listening to someone who hasn’t just built companies, but built wisdom, resilience, and unstoppable positive energy along the way.

Last night at Builders Investor House @ AWS, Eric Carbijn gave us a peek into his journey. Not the shiny LinkedIn version; the real deal. Taking big swings before the market believed, messing things up, building, selling, scaling back, and never losing sight of what matters.

And two lessons from his grandfather really stuck with me:

👉 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. We all know the type: blaming the market, bad timing, other people. But in the end, it’s on you. Your calls, your hires, your gut feeling. Eric’s been there, owned the mistakes, learned, and kept moving. No excuses, just action.

👉 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀; 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼. Spot on. The best lessons come from unexpected places — competitors, critics, or people who underestimate you. But only if you’re paying attention and open enough to see them.

And what I love most: he still takes time to share his wins with the people who mattered along the way — even if those moments are years behind him.

Hats off to Eric. Thanks for the honesty, the energy, and for reminding us that great leadership is about showing up, owning it, and staying relentlessly forward-facing.