What This Entrepreneur Learned l Arts TrainingWorking well with a co-founder means knowing when to yield and when to push back. BY JENNIFER CONRAD, SENIOR WRITER @JENNIFERCONRAD Human Bees Co-Founder and CFO: Ranil Piyaratna. Photo: by Jason Henry ; Photo Illustration: Inc Art It's not a proven fact that martial arts can help you scale your company quickly. But it did help Ranil Piyaratna. The co-founder of Lathrop, California-based Human Bees, a staffing company that ranked No.
On the Inc. 5000 in 2021, says that when he and co-founder Geetesh Goyal launched their company in 2017, "we believed that we had to know the details of each other's worlds to make the proper decision." When a salesÂperson wasn't performing well, for example, they wasted precious USA Phone Number Data resources debating each other. The dynamic became unsustainable when the company began expanding quickly in 2019, prompting Piyaratna, 44, to look for a new framework for co-leading. He found it in tai chi, a meditative martial art he'd trained in since his late 20s. "I learned from tai chi how to yield, and when to push back," he says.
With a business partner, you have to pick your battles, and find the right times to cave when one person is passionate about something." Article continues after video. FEATURED VIDEO Want to Be a Millionaire? First You Need to Find Your Purpose In the end, the co-founders agreed that Goyal, 45, would take the lead as a true CEO, managing sales and recruiting, while Piyaratna would make financial and back-office decisions, as CFO. Clearly, the work on their partnership--which Goyal says allows them "to function yin and yang"--has paid off. After making the Inc. 5000, the comÂpany's sales numbers climbed to a new high of $100 million in 2022.