I was recently asked to reflect on how the Marine Corps prepared me for starting a business. Intuitively it’s an easy question for me to answer so long as I don’t have to communicate it to anyone else. The Marine Corps Leadership Principles and Traits I learned are so ingrained in me at this point that I don’t even think about them. Whether it’s gems like “know yourself and seek self-improvement” to “be technically and tactically proficient,” or simple traits like integrity, initiative, judgment, and dependability, the Marine Corps simply does an amazing job of setting the bar and demanding you live above it. This expectation of excellence is what makes the Marine Corps the finest and most effective fighting force in the world.

Since leaving the Marine Corps, I’m now on my second startup. The first was a nonprofit called the Travis Manion Foundation (TMF). TMF is a phenomenal veteran serving organization that I was incredibly fortunate to have lead for several years from 2011-2014. I was the fourth employee and ultimately became the Executive Director as we scaled the size, revenue, and impact of the organization. After leaving TMF, I co-founded the social enterprise CauseEngine. CauseEngine is the freelance marketplace connecting nonprofits to purpose-driven professionals with specialized and technical skills. CauseEngine arose out of my desire to provide real solutions for the social sector. I believe in the amazing work of these organizations. They’re on the ground floor doing the hard work to make our communities better. They deserve access to the best talent. In both cases, the Marine Corps Leadership Principles and Traits have shaped how I live as a business leader.

However, there is another set of fundamental principles that informs my view of how to bring your startup to life and correlates directly back to my time leading Marines in combat: Dr. David Kilkullen’s Twenty-Eight Articles: Fundamentals of Company-Level Counterinsurgency. We lived and breathed his twenty-eight articles everyday in Iraq as we patrolled and conducted complex counterinsurgency operations. In the startup world, anyone can have an idea, but it takes execution to make it successful. There’s a whole cottage industry around teaching people how to run a lean startup, design thinking for startups, product design, etc. The startup world has a whole lexicon associated with it. I’m a grunt though. I’ll just go with what I practiced daily in Iraq.

1. Know your turf

Know your customers and clients. Know your market inside and out. Know the key players. Your task as a startup leader is to become the expert of every facet of your business. There is no substitute for personal mastery.

2. Diagnose the problem

If you know your turf, you’ll know the problems. With TMF, as a nonprofit working with veterans and families of fallen service members, I understood the issues intuitively because I lived them. I’ve called families to tell them they wouldn’t see their son again. I was wounded in combat. I worked through PTSD and Traumatic Brain Issues. I struggled with my personal transition out of the military. I knew the problems. Similarly, with CauseEngine, I’ve learned the business of nonprofits from the ground up. I know the pain points and real solutions to solving them. I know how hard it is to raise money. I know the challenge of running an organization with a lean staff and keeping overhead expenses low.

Take for example the idea of skill-based volunteers. They are good in theory, but when the business goals of the organization must be met by a deadline - and with top-notch skill, it’s nearly impossible to hold a volunteer accountable. It’s the paradox nonprofits find themselves in daily. They have important work that needs to be done in a timely, cost-effective, and high-quality manner, but relying on volunteers to consistently meet deadlines or continue working for free over time is a charade. Nonprofits need access to people with specialized and technical skills for project-based work. That’s where CauseEngine bridges the gap between volunteerism and getting shit done.

3. Rank is nothing: talent is everything

A small group of talented people with technical and tactical proficiency who demonstrate initiative, sound judgment and decisiveness will do more for your startup then creating a bulky organization with many layers of bureaucracy.

4. Have a game plan

I love this one, especially as it relates to business. In the Marine Corps, we issue orders based on commander’s intent and mission-type orders. Basically, the commander provides the plan to his subordinates and then gives them lanes within that plan. Each lane becomes that person’s individual mission. We do this because “no plan survives first contact with the enemy.” Business plans are no different. You need to have one, but it needs to be flexible enough to continuously iterate, adapt, and change as the situation unfolds. Once your business hits your customers, there’s no telling how they’ll respond. Have a plan, but keep it flexible.

5. Be there

The Marine Corps operated under this premise the entire time we fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. We believed that you had to be present in the communities where the local people lived. You couldn’t ride in from a safe and fortified base, run patrols, and then head home to safety. The locals would never respect you and ultimately you put yourself at greater risk. Bringing a product to market is no different. In nonprofits, you have to get out there with your clients, those you serve, to truly understand how to empower and lift them up. For business, you have to communicate with your customers, listen to them, and provide the service they need. Being there is hard and uncomfortable but vital. As we’ve rolled out our beta CauseEngine platform to users to test, I love seeing and hearing their feedback. Sometimes it’s hard, but it’s always valuable.

6. Avoid knee jerk responses to first impressions

Many times we assume we know what other people need without asking them or with little data to inform us. In the nonprofit lexicon, it’s called paternalism. In business, it’s called hubris. Hubris and paternalism sometimes work (Steve Jobs and Apple being the best example), but ultimately a disciplined approach to testing, iteration, and continual improvement will win the day for most businesses. It’s much like the lean approach for startups – but applicable to nonprofits, startups, or counterinsurgency.

7. Build trusted networks

In the Marine Corps we called this winning “hearts” and “minds.” Simply put, to win their “hearts” you must persuade people that their best interest is served by your success. To win their “minds” you must provide a bridge for your customers and stakeholders where, through calculated self-interest, they conclude they are better off working with you. Building trusted networks is the key to scaling and growing your organization. In many cases it only takes one person that you’ve won over to get the ball rolling. Be rigorous about customer success. It will pay huge dividends.

8. Start Easy

I’m a victim of not doing this. My other co-founders help keep me in check when I’m biting off more than I or we can chew. It’s easy to see what’s possible but lose sight of what’s in front of you. For startups, this is bringing the minimal viable product (MVP) to market. Test and iterate from there. Nonprofits could learn a lot from this methodology when they roll out new or novel services.

9. Seek Early Victories

When you’re getting an organization started, look for early victories. It will be a huge boon to your confidence while helping to build momentum. A lot of small early victories start to add up over time.

10. Be prepared for setbacks

Understand that when you take risks and put yourself out there, you’ll be faced with setbacks. Know that from the beginning. Plan for it. Design for it. Embrace it. It takes nerves of steel and resiliency to overcome difficult challenges but without toiling you’ll never grow or learn. Know that it’s part of the process.

11. Take stock regularly

Develop the right metrics from the outset so you’re able to benchmark and track the success or failure of your organization. Metrics are not the only factors to consider, but view them as a means to providing an overall impression of your organization and how it’s progressing. Take stock regularly and be disciplined about continuing to do so as your organization finds success.

12. Exploit a “single narrative”

The nonprofits and businesses I’ve seen that are the most successful drive a single narrative that resonates and is clear. We struggled with that idea at TMF because our single narrative, “Honor the fallen by challenging the living” was nebulous at best. It created a ton of internal turmoil because it resonated deeply but was unclear. There was a lot of emotion tied into that phrase and that made it very difficult to change and help clarify a single narrative. At CauseEngine, we’re working towards a vision as the single source powering the social sector. In the near term, we’re simply the marketplace connecting purpose-driven professionals with nonprofits to solve business problems and drive impact.

13. Small is beautiful

There is a natural human tendency to drive towards a large-scale system changing solution. In the world of startups, especially tech startups, people ask what our plan is to get to a billion users. I’ve been asked that question several times. My response is always the same: we’re building a great business that delivers exceptional service and solutions for our clients. We’re not looking for a billion users; we’re looking to earn every client through hard work and exceptional service. Without a great business (or nonprofit program) delivering on its promise, no large-scale system changing solutions will ever be realized. Start small. Build small. Brilliance in the basics.

14. Whatever else you do, keep the initiative

Keep moving forward. Stay proactive instead of reactive. Focus on the people you serve. Build your own solutions. Remember that your hard work, discipline, and tenacity are your lifeblood and will ultimately bring you success.

James Brobyn is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of CauseEngine. CauseEngine is the freelance marketplace connecting nonprofits with purpose-driven professionals. CauseEngine believes finding trusted professionals shouldn’t be stressful. Each nonprofit has an important vision and huge plans--but also big needs. CauseEngine’s mission is to help nonprofits accomplish their goals, meet deadlines and increase their impact by connecting them with talented freelancers. It’s not volunteering, it’s Work Inspired. Find James at @jamesbrobyn.