Adam Blitzer (LinkedIn, Twitter) had an $8 domain name when he and his co-founder started their company, Pardot. They were battling against other competitors with hundreds of millions of dollars in VC backing and resources that Adam could only dream of. But instead of seeing a tough fight and throwing in the towel, Adam took lessons he learned on the judo mat and applied them to his business.

"The whole idea of judo, in theory, is designed around the idea of asymmetric forces, so not competing strength against strength but using your strength against your opponent's weakness. In the startup world, if you try to compete strength for strength against an established player, it's kind of a fool's errand. You're just playing the game that they want you to play."

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

The Journey is sponsored by our friends at Salesforce Essentials. We use Salesforce Essentials every day and it’s part of our own business journey. Essentials combines sales and service tools in a single app to help small businesses win customers and keep them happy. See how Salesforce Essentials can help you be your best business at salesforce.com/thejourney