Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson on Entrepreneurship and Self-Doubt

In this interview with HBR’s Women at Work team, entrepreneurs Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson share hard-won lessons from starting and running three companies together: first a consultancy, then a manufacturer, and finally a FinTech. They were blindsided by the cash-flow and other systemic issues they ran into when trying to scale a new but popular product. They reflect on what made their long-term partnership work well and how they’ve come to understand and manage self-doubt, guilt, and the repercussions of underrepresentation. They also share tips for networking, hiring and retaining employees, learning the ins and outs of finance, and when to walk away from the company you built.