Focus on Leveraging What You Can do - Not On What You Can't
An Inspiring Guest Post From a Beloved Mentee
That mindset was alive and electric at the Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship Startup Challenge. Congrats to my amazing mentee and freshman intern Riya Jain, who won first place and the $30K Borchardt Prize for her venture Land of Can. It’s a book series and platform designed to help kids reimagine their possibilities.
The Borchardt Prize is awarded each year to the top undergrad entrepreneurs at Duke University. More than a prize, it’s a vote of confidence in ideas that can shift how we think, live, and lead.
Riya embodies the can-do spirit that her project champions. For her, it’s focusing on what you can do, and empowering others to discover the same. So, I asked her to write the guest post below. I’m so proud to see her shine!
Rewriting “Can’t”: What Four Mentors Taught Me About Building With Purpose
By Riya Jain, Duke ‘28 and Founder, Land of Can
Awaiting my turn to pitch at the Duke Startup Showcase, I nervously shook my leg and fidgeted with my hands. The presentation that I had practiced 50 times had suddenly escaped my brain as I walked up to the stage. I heard myself saying the nots and cants. “You can’t do this.” “What if you mess up?” “Maybe it’s not a good idea.” But in an instant, it was over. The crowd erupted in slow motion. Minutes later, I had watched all my hard work pay off as I was handed the The Frank Borchardt $30,000 grand prize check.
In that moment, I realized I was living the exact message I had written for kids in The Land of Can. The doubts I had before walking onstage were the same ones I try to help children rewrite every day. The Land of Can produces world-class children's books and other resources that empower kids to realize that more is possible when they define themselves by their strengths, rather than their deficits.
As I looked ahead to growing The Land of Can, I turned to four mentors, each of whom reshaped how I lead, build, and think:
1. Find Your Why: My mother
My mom, Dr. Ruchi Gupta, is a physician, researcher, and founder of Yobee Care—a clean hair and skincare brand inspired by my struggle with cradle cap as an infant. It’s not only her credentials that inspire so many, but her why. Her goal isn’t just to sell a product, but to restore trust, relief, and confidence to families who feel overlooked.
Watching her fall in love with that problem showed me what it means to build something with purpose. That same drive shaped The Land of Can. My why started at the “Nut-Free Table,” where I sat as a kid with life-threatening food allergies. But that table was also full of kids who had disabilities, who had been bullied, or who just felt different. I didn’t just want to write books, I wanted to change how kids see themselves. My mom taught me that when your why is strong, the work becomes something deeper: a mission.
2. Focus: John Antonelli
John, a Duke alum and founder of Real Sports App, told me to stay laser-focused on brand and heart. Within three months of launching his company, he was scaling rapidly, but what stuck with me wasn’t the growth, it was his clarity. He advised me to focus on one social media platform and take it over, rather than spread myself thin. He also warned against gamifying my product too soon which reminded me that sometimes simplicity speaks louder than flash or what everyone else is doing.
3. Never Sacrifice Quality: Melissa Bernstein
Melissa, co-founder of Melissa & Doug, completely reframed how I thought about trust. She told me: never sacrifice quality. If something goes wrong with your product, be the first to know and the first to fix it. She explained that building a lasting brand means cultivating deep trust with your customers and that trust is only earned when you listen, own your mistakes, and stay committed to the families you serve.
4. Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution: Sanyin Siang
Sanyin, a Duke professor, CEO coach, and my mentor, helped me see that the biggest threat to a founder is falling in love with the solution. Instead, she urged me to fall in love with the problem. That mindset shift challenged me to keep talking to my customers, stay humble, and be ready to pivot. “If you fall in love with the solution,” she told me, “you might work your way into irrelevance.”
Now, as I enter this next chapter, I’m thinking more deeply about the core problem I’m trying to solve: How do we help kids feel seen, capable, and empowered—especially those who are often misunderstood? This summer, I’m focused on scaling The Land of Can, not just by creating more content, but by understanding the best ways to get our resources into the hands of the families, schools, and clinics that need them most.
If you're a parent, educator, or clinician looking for books that speak to kids’ real emotional lives, I hope you’ll check out The Land of Can. And if you’re a young person out there who’s ever felt misunderstood, just know this: there’s a whole land waiting for you, and you already belong.
What does vulnerability really mean for leaders? In my latest MIT Sloan Management Review Coaching for the Future Forward Leader Column, I tackle the following reader question:
At a time of increased uncertainty throughout our business, I feel that it’s important to be a rock, and to show positivity, for the people on my team. But I know it’s important to show more vulnerability at times like this. How can I do both?
Read the 650 word column here.
Send your leadership questions to asksanyin@mit.edu
Want to produce good and meaningful work and have fun doing so? Find a great collaborator.
One of my favorite collaborators is my amazing MIT Sloan Management Review editor, Elizabeth Heichler. Together, we have produced a quarterly leadership print and digital column and several video columns.
Elizabeth is a powerful thought partner, pushing for clarity and connection to the reader and is also my litmus test for ideas, honing in on key painpoints that readers face.
Topics of the #AskSanyin columns span from imposter syndrome to return to office and leading in uncertainty.
I loved spending time with her while in Boston. And we also filmed a fireside chat, by the ultra talented multimedia editor Shawn Read another amazing collaborator. (Shawn is not in the picture because he’s behind the camera!). The topic? Why do we have a tough time delegating and what we can do about it. Stay tuned for the video release at MIT Sloan Management Review!
