Topic Video · One focused idea from a full conversation
About this topic
How much do you really need to know before you stop planning and start? For Charbel Louis Karam, the answer is roughly 70%. In this From The Ground Up Show: Topics episode, Charbel shares one of the most important lessons he gives aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders: once you understand about 70% of what you need to know, get moving. He watched a close friend…
Show notes, links & resources
How much do you really need to know before you stop planning and start?
For Charbel Louis Karam, the answer is roughly 70%.
In this From The Ground Up Show: Topics episode, Charbel shares one of the most important lessons he gives aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders: once you understand about 70% of what you need to know, get moving.
He watched a close friend spend weeks researching an opportunity, studying the market, building reports, and developing strategies. At first, the preparation was impressive. Eventually, it became paralysis.
Charbel’s advice was simple: take the leap, start, and learn by doing.
No business plan survives perfectly once it meets the real world. Whether you’re developing a product, entering an industry, starting a company, or making a major leadership decision, there comes a point when additional preparation produces diminishing returns.
That doesn’t mean ignoring risk. Starting a business can be genuinely frightening. Mortgages, rent, car payments, children, and other financial responsibilities don’t disappear because someone wants to become an entrepreneur.
It means accepting that perfect certainty will never arrive.
Action must also be paired with humility. Leaders need to question their assumptions, hold themselves accountable, recognize mistakes quickly, and change direction when reality proves them wrong.
As Charbel puts it, “You’re not going to analyze your way to success—and you’re not going to PowerPoint your way to success.”
Get to 70%. Take the leap. Learn the other 30% by doing.
Follow From The Ground Up Show: Topics in your podcast app, and share this episode with someone who may be waiting for the perfect time to begin.
WATCH THIS TOPIC ON YOUTUBE
WATCH THE COMPLETE CONVERSATION
Full episode:
https://youtu.be/rvOcqFISL24
CONDENSED episode:
https://youtu.be/LraZ4Uj2c10
LISTEN TO EVERY FORMAT
From The Ground Up Show:
https://pod.link/1846907140
From The Ground Up Show CONDENSED:
https://pod.link/6806079674
From The Ground Up Show: Topics:
https://pod.link/6808750058
THE WEEK’S CONVERSATIONS, IN ONE EMAIL
Choose the depth that fits your time: the full conversation, a roughly 20-minute CONDENSED edition, or a focused Topics episode.
Join the From The Ground Up Show newsletter:
https://fromthegroundupshow.com/newsletter/
WATCH MORE FOCUSED TOPICS
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLud9Edq6T5ZwT7z38p86WE6DUpEhbbaFU
GUEST & RESOURCES
Charbel Louis Karam on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charbellouis
Spectrum Killian Dental Lab Alliance:
https://skdla.com
Spectrum Killian on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/skdla
PARTNERS & SPONSORS
MacArthur Company:
https://www.macarthurco.com
Athlete Fresh:
https://athletefresh.shop/fromthegroundupshow
ABOUT FROM THE GROUND UP SHOW
Real stories. Hard lessons. Stronger foundations. From The Ground Up Show features honest conversations and practical lessons for owners, operators, tradespeople, entrepreneurs, and leaders building something that lasts.
