“The best part of trying to become an entrepreneur is really understanding that you have to have the passion to get up every day and try to move forward,” said a local, newly-minted entrepreneur.

Adriana Avakian is founder and CEO of TheIncLab, a research and development firm assisting the national security industry.

TheIncLab focuses on interaction design, the innovation of human-machine interfaces and interaction.

“[We] put people at the center of design. So, reframing problems into human problems,” Avakian told What’s Working in Washington.

“Business used to think about business problems as ‘Oh, I need to raise my top line 10 percent,’ as opposed to ‘I need to satisfy my customers’. That’s a good way to reframe problems in design thinking terms,” she said.

The most surprising thing when becoming a founder? Watching her company’s culture develop.

“The founder is going to cultivate that culture. It’s going to be in the image of who you are,” she said. If a founder projects hard work, drive and innovation, the company will reflect that.

Also important was learning how to fund a startup. “The best way to fund your company is bootstrapping. Put your heart, put your savings into it, don’t rush to raise capital,” she said.

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