Video: How to build a sustainable start-up

Augie Fabela, Co-Founder and Chair of telecommunications operator VimpelCom, shares his advice on how turn a sustainable start-up into a successful global company. Fabela says the key to success can be found in the unity of “the five p’s”: purpose, passion, perseverance, people and a pioneering spirit.

Watch the full video at the top of the page, or read key quotes below.

On the Purpose and Passion

Purpose is about knowing what your final objective is. To be able to keep your focus, because there will always be a lot of distractions. And having that clarity of purpose allows you to keep going in that right direction.

Passion has to be a way of life. Passion is what gets you through the impossible. It’s what lets you say: reality is telling me this, but my purpose is over here, this is not going to get in my way. When I first went to Russia there were two words I heard all the time. Those two words were ‘impossible’ and ‘no’. And frankly for me, those are the two most motivating words I can hear. And that gives me a cue that I will turn that impossible into a possible. If the leader is passionate, people follow.

On Perseverance and People

Perseverance is key. Passion gets you through just about everything, but not everything. In those situations where passion hasn’t been able to get you through that barrier, you need to persevere.

In the journey you need to find the right people, pick the right team. You also need to know the right time when it’s time to change people.

On a Pioneering Spirit

The fifth element is the pioneering spirit, and that’s the ability and desire to always be doing something that no one has done before. You don’t want to lose that entrepreneurism, that mindset that says let’s be different.

Five key performance attributes – the five p’s – meld all those together with good leadership and build a team that share these common values; that will lead you on a successful journey from startup to global corporate.

Author: Augie Fabela, Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus, VimpelCom

Image: A business man rides an escalator in the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai September 21, 2011. REUTERS/Aly Song