# @jared-kleinstein on LinkedIn

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jared-kleinstein_coming-up-on-a-decade-since-starting-fresh-activity-7504186106469572608-LIvH
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/71186175-injared-kleinstein-linkedin
- **Posted:** 2026-09-11T14:36:28.816+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Jared Kleinstein (@jarzod) — https://gondola.cc/jarzod

## Caption

Coming up on a DECADE since starting Fresh Tape Media, we’ve had a ton of success…but I’ve made plenty of mistakes. Here are my top 10 (so you don’t make them yourself):

1) Trying to do too much manually in year 1. Best example of that was my books/accounting. I wish I had been using Quickbooks advanced since the start and been able to track margin on every project with it. LET TECH DO ITS JOB. 

2) The obvious one…wasn’t aggressive enough on collections. Doing work and expecting to get paid is normal. But when clients are late, I wish we had hounded them sooner. Can’t be a people pleaser/worry about what people think as much when it comes to getting what you’re owed. 

3) Not tracking inventory early and often enough. We’re not a CPG company, but we have a ton of gear and props and whatnot. I wish we had consistently tracked it from the start. 

4) I made bets but didn’t “know when to fold em”. We tried to invent a clear plexiglass ball to hold a 360 camera, and between durability issues and audio issues, we just kept iterating and spending money….and it never went anywhere. Some times you gotta call it early. 

5) Saying “YES! We can do that” without checking with the team. I can get so excited about a project that I’ve disregarded the teams availability or interest in a project. Gotta make a better habit of saying “let me check!” before overcommitting. 

6) Hiring someone who didn’t have a LinkedIn. Yep. That’s right. We had one of those “worked two jobs” employees and he got away with it for too long. Covid was a wild time. CHECK REFERENCES but also call the company to make sure the person actually worked there. 

7) Waiting too long to delegate things I thought I would find time to do. It happens a lot of projects that I get excited about, and if I’m concerned the team doesn’t have capacity to work on them, I overcommit my own ability to execute on them. Gotta know your own schedule. 

8) Confusing a cool idea with a genuine business opportunity. I’m a constant idea factory…but noteverything needs company resources. 

9) Not celebrating wins enough. I’ve always found self congratulation awkward after projects, but there are ways to do it that are good for business and not cheesy/cringeworthy. It’s just a good thing to do and I should’ve pushed for it earlier and more often.

10) On that same vein, I didn’t advocate for more employee self promotion early. Not everyone is comfortable with it, and you also have to make sure you have client approval…but I wish I had empowered people to publish from their own channels earlier. If you empower your people, you’re not risking they’ll get another job bc of the exposure….youre showing them they matter in the job they currently have. 

Thanks for your patience (team and clients and friends) as I figured all these things out. I hope to make many more mistakes and learn from them for years to come! | 14 comments on LinkedIn

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 134
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 14

## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jared Kleinstein | @jarzod | https://gondola.cc/jarzod | Social Media Manager |

## Events

2026 ftm linkedin content

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