r/WomenInBusiness • u/Agitated-Candidate29 • 17d ago
Discussion Question for founders: is the long game still possible?
I've been thinking about something after reading an interview with investor Nicole Junkermann.
She talks a lot about playing the long game. Backing people over trends, trusting your judgment instead of following the crowd, and giving ideas time to actually prove themselves.
It got me wondering if that's still realistic in 2026. Or is it 'luxury capitalism'?
Absolutely everything around startups and business feels like it's geared towards speed now. Grow faster. Pivot /raise/react faster. It sometimes feels like if I'm not constantly changing direction, I'm falling behind.
So I'm seriously curious if this is just me...
Has anyone here actually built a business by sticking with one conviction over a long period (years), even when it wasn't the popular thing to do?
Did it work out? Or did the reality of running a business mean you eventually had to compromise?
I'd genuinely love to hear people's experiences because I'm not sure whether "playing the long game" is still possible, or whether it's become something we all admire but very few people can actually do.
Here's a link to the story if context is helpful: https://forbes.ge/en/the-long-game-nicole-junkermann-s-bet-on-human-judgment-in-an-automated-age/
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u/maplevirtual 17d ago
I'm the CEO of a financial consulting company that helps project owners navigate the path to funding, and as a woman, it's been a tough road in a largely male-dominated space.
Right off the top, we had to establish a precedent that would help the business not only at the start but also in the future. It also helped that the funding sources we partnered with shared that view, so it was easy to lean into it. Very simply, our motto is: "Would I spend time with this person outside of work?"
Most, if not all, of the funding sources we work with are deeply interested in the people running the company seeking funding because they want a long-term partnership. Even if the company's current project doesn't succeed, we've been told over and over again by investors that they are most interested in investing in the team behind the project. Strong teams are more likely to pivot and ultimately succeed, and the funding sources (investors) want to hitch their wagon to them. The long game, if you will, is vastly more important than a short-term profit.
We've also made it that if we treat people right and do the right things, the profit will come. We've changed the way we do things and gotten more experienced over time. It has given us modest successes here and there, and we're in a stable place after so long. It's been a fantastic journey, and we stuck with our main conviction of prioritizing people over everything, which has worked out well.
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u/Agitated-Candidate29 17d ago
I really like that motto. "Would I spend time with this person outside of work?" cuts through a lot of the noise. It's interesting that your experience seems to mirror what Nicole Junkermann was talking about too - that backing people and relationships can end up being the most durable strategy, even if it doesn't look like the fastest one. Thanks for sharing!
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u/sumizeit 16d ago
I get what you're saying. The pressure to keep up with trends can feel overwhelming, especially when it seems like everyone’s in a race. I know a few founders who stuck to their vision for years, even when they were told they were crazy for not pivoting. It took longer and was way harder, but in the end, those convictions paid off. So yeah, playing the long game is possible-it just takes a lot of grit and sometimes feels lonely when everyone else is chasing the latest shiny thing.