The Builder’s Mindset: Why Strategy-First Isn’t Optional Anymore
Builders Don’t Wing It—They Lead With Clarity
If you’re a founder, here’s the trap you’ve likely been pushed into:
Move fast. Launch quickly. Test and tweak. Just get something out there.
The tech world romanticizes speed. Investors reward momentum. And somewhere along the way, strategy became a luxury instead of a requirement.
But speed without clarity leads to rework. In animal health, where trust is slow to build, you don’t get unlimited shots.
I’ve seen this play out again and again:
• Founders racing to market with disconnected messaging
• Product teams retrofitting features into unclear value props
• CEOs stuck asking, “Why isn’t this translating to traction?”
The answer isn’t more marketing. It’s better leadership. And leadership starts with strategy.
At Thavma Consulting, we call this the Builder’s Mindset, a way of thinking that puts foundation first.
In Practice: What Actually Works
Each edition, we bring you insights from industry leaders shaping the future of veterinary innovation and just as importantly, from the people living it every day.
This week, I spoke with Dr. Andrew Findlay, Chief Veterinarian at ROO, whose clarity, candor, and clinic-first mindset always challenge assumptions and sharpen strategy.
Andrew’s rare blend of operational insight and strategic vision is exactly what this industry needs. He asks: Will this actually work for the people doing the job?
His Builder’s Mindset is a masterclass in empathy, architecture, and traction.
As Andrew shares, clarity isn’t a luxury, it’s what makes the difference between chasing assumptions and solving real problems. His decision to start with direct, boots-on-the-ground feedback, not industry surveys or leadership guesswork, illustrates exactly what it means to lead with strategy, not speed.
“A bit about me:
I have always been a believer that the best companies exist to solve customer problems. There are many kinds of business models, but the ones who are customer focused, with a drive and passion for solving problems and ultimately leaving the world a better place are the ones I identify with strongly. It goes hand in hand with my “builders mindset”. To me, a builders mindset means designing systems that solve real problems, adapting as you go, and caring deeply about the people who’ll use what you’re building. It requires not only observing problems but embracing problems: after all, how can you solve problems if you avoid them? It requires clarity to dig down to the root of a problem, and empathy in your design as you ensure your solution actually solves your customers problem. My north star is building scalable, sustainable solutions for the veterinary industry. To me, that means creating tools, systems, and strategies that make it easier for veterinary professionals to thrive in their work—not just survive it. I’m immensely proud of this profession and the people in it, and I’m drawn to projects that help us find more joy, stability, and meaning in our day-to-day work. I also love pushing the forefront of veterinary medicine forward, be it clinically or culturally, without the damage of “disruption” to the profession. If it helps reduce friction, lighten the load, or strengthen our ability to keep showing up—that is where you will find me.
What strategic decision made the biggest difference in your early traction?
One of the factors for our early successes was identifying what worked and resonated with our customers, and then ultimately figuring out how to scale it. With the mindset of solving customer problems, our early team set out to find out exactly what vets, techs, and hospitals were looking for. Many startup companies used surveys, or spoke with “industry leaders” to get a sense for what people did and didn't want. We on the other hand took a very direct approach. We spent time in our cities, often working side by side with vets and techs and in our partner hospitals in each city we launched. In the beginning we thought everyone pretty much wanted the same thing: Flexibility right? But over time, we found that individuals had a full rainbow of motivations. Some people wanted flexibility, while others wanted higher earning opportunities, while others still wanted to develop their clinical skill sets. As we spent time closely with our customers on a day to day basis, we were able to hone in on what each city and region really wanted, instead of just giving everyone a “one size fits all” experience. To this day, I feel this was a huge differentiator for us and gave us much of our early traction and success. This grass roots approach not only allowed us the proximity to ensure we were solving customer problems but also allowed us to build trust within our communities; a critical and often overlooked step when it comes to building scalable solutions.
How do you think about balancing empathy and execution in startup environments?
Balancing empathy and execution in a startup can often feel like balancing the need to invest in the future while also surviving today. At Roo, we used to “lead with empathy” as a core company value. But what does that mean? Empathy in my mind is being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes and really understand their pain points. And just as importantly, you can't get mad at them for reacting to a pain point! If a dog comes in with a broken bone and I touch it, the dog is going to growl and maybe even try to bite me. But if I come to a hospital that is stressed out, understaffed and dealing with difficult clients and in need of support (the pain), I can't be shocked if they are reactive about how quickly they need a vet or tech (what do you mean you can't just send someone to work every Saturday?! That's what I need!). Instead, I reframe it to ensure we are really solving their core problem. They don't want me to forcibly send someone to work every Saturday who may or may not be a good fit for them. That may very well just be switching out one headache for another, or worse, compounding their problems (angry doctors, angry staff, AND angry clients is a recipe for disaster!) The hospital wants someone who is actually going to help. They need relief from their pain. That means someone who is engaged, ready to give their best, and ultimately is there because they want to be. That is why we built Roo the way we did, having vets and hospitals build out profiles and preferences and so on. By having vets build out profiles and only select hospitals they actually want to work at, we reduce the chance of “culture misalignment” and have a better likelihood of actually solving the core problem of “I need help”.
Any lessons or moments when slowing down to clarify strategy paid off?
In my mind, the desire to grow can't outpace your desire to do good when you are customer focused. If we scaled nationwide in our first year but ultimately ended up facilitating or creating more burnout and frustration in the industry, that would be a failure no matter how you looked at it. To me, scaling meant balancing the business’s need to grow in new markets and territories while also maintaining a positive experience for all of our partners. I remember distinctly when we made our first big growth jump, launching 6 cities in roughly a one-year period. Compared to our previous rate of growth, this felt like a massive, almost impossible undertaking. We came in with a battle plan, and like all good plans it failed to work on initial launch. You know what they say about the best laid plans. I remember the feelings then too, everything felt urgent, almost do or die (it wasn’t) and it was tempting to just move fast and react. We needed to find a way to get people excited to use Roo, many of whom had never heard of it before. However, instead of blindly pushing forward, I tried to slow it down and bring it back to our customer focused roots. How could I support the veterinary industry, while also bringing positive visibility and engagement to Roo? As an industry, education and a pledge to life-long learning is a cornerstone for many of us. I knew that if we could create an environment for people to learn in ways and environments they never had before, we could also create an environment to educate them on what Roo was, what we stood for, and how their lives could be different in a way they may not have ever really thought through before. We were able to grow at scale authentically, because we used a strategy focused entirely around who our customers were and what we thought would excite them. That line of thinking, of “bringing it back to our customers roots” is ultimately what led to our highly successful CE program, which is still a core pillar to our market launches to this day.”
What Is The Builder’s Mindset?
The Builder’s Mindset is how founders scale with intention, not just speed.
It’s the difference between:
Launching tactics and designing systems
Reacting to problems and engineering for outcomes
At its core, it means:
Start with strategy. Don’t move until you know where you’re going and why
Solve for sustainability. Build for trust, traction, and scale. Not short-term noise
Stay customer-obsessed. Insight, not assumptions, drives real growth
Builders don’t chase trends. They build traction.
Because what makes companies last isn’t hustle. It’s architecture. What makes solutions sticky isn’t tech. It’s trust. And what drives momentum isn’t more effort, it’s sharper direction.
So, before you launch your next campaign, ask:
Do I have a system or just activity?
If the answer isn’t clear, it’s time to lead with strategy. Because the best builders don’t just move fast. They move with purpose.
THAVMA INSIGHT: Andrew’s definition of the Builder’s Mindset mirrors ours: observe deeply, adapt boldly, and build for the people you serve. His commitment to spending time in clinics, asking the hard questions, and designing around human motivation, not just operational need is what transformed his strategy from an idea into impact.
Before You Build Trust, Build the System
Trust doesn’t come from campaigns. It comes from coherence. Before your marketing can earn belief, and before your product can deliver impact, you need a system that aligns your message, your model, and your momentum. And that system starts with strategy.
Too many teams skip this step. They launch content before clarifying value. They chase visibility before validating positioning. They try to build trust, without first building something trustworthy.
As Andrew Findlay puts it:
“You’ve got to get in the trenches and design from the ground up. That’s how you build something that actually works—on the floor, in the field, not just in a doc.”
At Roo, Andrew’s team didn’t outsource strategy. They embedded with real users, observing patterns, surfacing friction, and designing for what actually mattered. They didn’t scale blindly. They built the system first.
That’s the Builder’s Mindset in action:
Align before you amplify.
Architect before you accelerate.
Solve before you scale.
Ask yourself:
Do I have a system that connects my strategy to my story, my market, and my delivery?
If not. Build that first.
Building Tactics Before You’ve Built Trust
Startups don’t fail because they lack hustle. They fail because they hustle in the wrong direction.
In the early stages, it's tempting to equate doing more with making progress. But without strategy, every marketing move becomes reactive and reaction is expensive.
We see this all the time in animal health and healthtech: campaigns that don’t convert, content that doesn’t resonate, and marketing efforts that feel disjointed. Not because the team isn’t working hard, but because they’re building on shaky ground.
Here are common mistakes founders make when they build without a clear foundation and how to correct them with strategy-first thinking:
THAVMA INSIGHT: Andrew’s experience proves that empathy without structure leads to friction, but empathy with strategy builds momentum. Whether designing preference-based matching to reduce burnout or resisting the urge to scale blindly, his actions show what happens when you solve the real problem not just the loudest one.
Ready to Build Something That Actually Scales?
If you're a founder navigating complexity, juggling every role, and constantly told to "just get it out there", PAUSE.
You don’t need more noise. You need clarity.
You don’t need more hustle. You need a foundation that holds.
Because the truth is: it’s not effort that’s missing. It’s architecture. When your strategy aligns your story, systems, and team, everything compounds. Trust grows. Traction sticks. Execution accelerates.
That’s the Builder’s Mindset.
Lead with clarity. Build with intention. Scale with confidence.
And that’s what our Strategy First model is built to deliver.
THAVMA INSIGHT: “Builders” like Andrew don’t scale because they had perfect plans. They scale because they asked better questions, designed smarter systems, and led with purpose. That’s what the Builder’s Mindset delivers and it’s what our Strategy First model is built to help you create.
Want to audit your own foundation?
Download our free Marketing Systems Checklist for Startup Founders and assess if your strategy is built to scale.
P.S.
I’ve helped funded startups, innovation-driven brands, and growth-stage companies turn scattered marketing into strategic traction. If you're ready to work smarter, not just harder. I’d love to help.
Ready to sharpen your strategy? Start here! Access our free strategy resources
Learn how Strategy First helps early-stage founders build momentum that lasts: Explore Services
Want to see where your foundation needs reinforcing? Book a consult
Curious about how we partner with visionary founders? Meet Thavma
Let’s connect on LinkedIn: Fotine A Sotiropoulos | LinkedIn.
