Lesley Eccles is the Founder and CEO of Relish, a relationship coaching company with an award-winning coaching and self-care app.
Relish is the first-ever truly customized relationship training app that gives users unlimited access to a qualified relationship coach combined with an actionable, interactive, and scientifically-backed relationship training plan that adapts over time. The app has been recognized as Apple’s ‘App of the Day’ four times and featured in Well and Good, Fast Co., Mashable, RealSimple, Bustle, Inc., etc.
A serial entrepreneur and startup advisor, Lesley was previously co-founder and former head of marketing at FanDuel, the fantasy sports company, which she grew into a billion-dollar company.
What is Relish all about?
Relish’s mission is to strengthen communication, deepen the connection, and improve intimacy for couples through customized and interactive therapeutic lessons and relationship coaching support.
Relish is for anyone who values their relationship and wants it to be the best that it can be. Your lessons are selected for you based on your attachment style and your love language as well as several other considerations, bringing scientifically proven relationship advice into a practical, easily actioned format via our app.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I’m originally from Scotland in the UK and, via a stint in London, I moved to New York 5 years ago. I’ve worked in tech my whole life – my very first job out of college was at a tech startup, and it gave me the bug.
I co-founded FanDuel, now the largest sports betting company in the country, in 2009. Fast forward to 2017 when I left the company, I decided to create a company that would bring a sense of positivity and support into people’s lives, specifically focused on couples’ relationships.
I’m a firm believer that when your relationship is strong and healthy, you’re able to deal much more effectively with any hardships that life throws at you.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
Finding the right team that thrives in a startup environment. Startups aren’t for everyone. Dealing with uncertainty, putting the company first, and being okay with living outside your comfort zone takes a certain type of person to thrive.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
Because Relish isn’t my first rodeo, it’s been fairly smooth sailing. But, when I started my first company, it was much tougher. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned over the years:
- Thinking I could hire a marketing expert that would know more than I did (which admittedly wasn’t very much!) to grow our company. It never worked out – I had a long list of names scratched off a list of people who were supposed, experts. You know your product and your customers better than anyone – put in the hard work to figure the rest of it out.
- The first product we launched didn’t have a clear path to revenue. We had lots of ideas, but nothing truly concrete to drive monetization. The economic downturn of 2008 meant none of those ideas were ever going to happen. Always have a clear path to revenue that you truly believe in.
- Who you work with is just as important as the work you’re doing. Surround yourself with people who aren’t just smart, but also driven and passionate and above all FUN!
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
Talk to customers. Staying close to customers is really important no matter how large your business is. Every day I do customer support tickets – I want to know what the biggest issues are at any given time, and think about how we can make our processes and our products better.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
I don’t think I necessarily would have done anything differently, but one thing that I’ve learned that is incredibly important is the role of trust in an organization. In my opinion, trust is the most important aspect of building a high-performing and healthy culture.
You need to trust your team, your team needs to trust you, your board needs to trust you, you need to trust your board. That psychological safety within an organization is the secret sauce to success – it allows you to take risks, to push boundaries, to experiment, to make mistakes (and learn from them) – without that element of trust and safety, you simply cannot be a high performing team in the long run.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
The term “marketing strategy” means different things to different people, for me, it’s really asking how you grow efficiently while still building your brand. The most effective way to grow is obviously to start with a good product that people need, build an understanding of why people need it, and what emotions they are feeling when they either seek out or find your product.
For us, a lot of our growth to date has come from word of mouth – people telling their friends, therapists recommending us to their clients. For such a personal subject matter, it’s really wonderful to know that people are talking about it with their friends and family – that’s been a pleasant surprise.
If you only had 1000 dollars to start a new startup, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I wouldn’t. $1000 in my opinion is not nearly enough money to start a scalable business that I’d be interested in building. With this level of investment, it’s maybe a website advertising your skills as a contractor or consultant and throwing some paid ads at it then relying on referrals going forward. Or it’s a highly volatile industry like selling stock picks, betting lines, or daily fantasy sports picks.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Building a company is hard work. Be prepared for plenty of late nights, sleepless nights, and thinking constantly about your business. I don’t believe in “follow your passion” but I do believe in doing something that does good in the world. On those harder days, knowing that you’re making a difference in the world keeps you motivated and keeps you pushing forward.
I also firmly believe in picking your life partner wisely. Whoever it is that you choose to share your life with actually has a significant impact on your likelihood of success. Find someone who is supportive, understanding, and willing to listen to you talk about your business a lot. 🙂
Finally, if you’re not already, learn to be great at selling. As an entrepreneur you are always selling – selling the vision to your team, selling your product to customers, selling the company to potential new hires, selling your mission to investors. It never stops, and you’d better get comfortable with it fast.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
I use paper and pen. I start a new to-do list each week and add to it as the week goes on. Each day I sit down and decide what 2 things I will achieve today. I try to pick the two most painful things to do. If I’ve achieved one of them by the end of the day I can feel good. Everything else I get done easily but those painful projects need focus.
Besides the obvious social media tools available, what are the top 3 most useful tools or resources you’re currently using to grow your business?
It’s hard to beat a spreadsheet. While we now have access to many more tools for managing growth like Appsflyer and Amplitude, building FanDuel into a company worth billions of dollars was pretty much done using spreadsheets! And Tableau, that was incredibly useful too.
How can readers get in touch with you?
You can find out more about Relish here: hellorelish.com and reach me on Twitter @lesleyeccles.
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