So you think you want to be a founder? Start your own business? Do things your own way? Yeah? Well, let me tell you what I tell my friends who want to get married: Don't! Like, please kill that thought now and stop reading this. Thanks. Bye.
If you're still here, then you like problems, and I'm here for you. Welcome. Many people have been on this journey you're about to embark on, so you're not alone. Unfortunately, many of those people don't share how hard things can get and what tools you'd need to survive. So over the next few posts, I'm going to tell you to the best of my abilities. Let's start with the top of my list.
Grit:
You'll need this in spades! I put this before passion because there'll be many days when your passion will disappear. The only thing that'll keep you going will be your ability to just keep grinding. This is one reason I love backing engineers and salespeople. If you could go through 5 years of university studying a shit load of boring concepts without giving up, or learned to sell something people thought they'd never want/need, then you're already on the path.
Passion:
If you don't have this for the problem you want to solve, maybe don't bother. This is the thing that gets you started in the early days. This is why you're excited to go to that meeting, spin up that Canva page, or write those first lines of code.
Patience:
I was going to say time initially, but you can't control time. What you can control is how you handle the wait. That's where patience is necessary. There'll be days when things are just not moving, and it appears everything has ground to a halt. You'll have to be patient. You'll have to learn how to look for opportunities while you wait. A lack of patience is going to blind you and put everyone around you on edge.
Paranoia:
You'll need a healthy dose of this. This is going to be your cocaine, and you'll have to be a high-performing addict. This means no one around you has to know about this. You'll run to the bathroom to sniff it once in a while and make sure you clean your nose before you come out. Why? Everyone freaks out once they know you're paranoid. Same way they freak out the day they see that white streak on your nose. But paranoia is every founder's secret weapon. It's how you stay ahead of the competition. It's how you obsess over your customer service. It's how you make sure your best people don't leave. Again, a healthy dose—whatever that means to you.
Empathy:
Always remember to be kind to yourself and the people you've brought on the journey with you. Don't act as if they are you. They are not. You'll have to learn to be emotionally intelligent while being objective at the same time. Don't just listen to people; hear them.
Skills:
This one is a no-brainer, but I think it's important to state. You need key skills that are going to be critical for your survival in the early stages. I put sales and product development—engineering especially—at the top of my list. I'm going to assume that you already have operational expertise in your problem space. These skills will save you a lot of time and money. Plus, you get to be in control of your momentum early on. So between you and your co-founder(s)/founding team, make sure you have a handle on these skills.
People:
The journey will be tough and hard and lonely; you'll need people. Either co-founders, a solid founding team, or deeply committed advisors, these people are going to be your support when all else is going to shit. I've seen cases where the only reason the company is alive today is the people. This only works if you surround yourself with the best people. Don't be mediocre. You can't afford that. In fact, that's a quick way to guarantee failure. Constantly vet the people around you and never be in a hurry to commit to new relationships.
Okay, you've gotten here. Good for you. It's totally okay if you've decided not to go ahead and start something. In fact, that's my preference for you. Keep that cushy job, mull over that idea for a little longer, enjoy those business class flights, keep expensing those bills, don't rush. What people don't tell you is that being employed is a quicker path to being a millionaire than owning a business.
Did you see that I didn't mention money? Lol. That's because it's never a reason to not become a founder. In my next post, we'll talk more about money.
If you're still here, then you like problems, and I'm here for you. Welcome. Many people have been on this journey you're about to embark on, so you're not alone. Unfortunately, many of those people don't share how hard things can get and what tools you'd need to survive. So over the next few posts, I'm going to tell you to the best of my abilities. Let's start with the top of my list.
Grit:
You'll need this in spades! I put this before passion because there'll be many days when your passion will disappear. The only thing that'll keep you going will be your ability to just keep grinding. This is one reason I love backing engineers and salespeople. If you could go through 5 years of university studying a shit load of boring concepts without giving up, or learned to sell something people thought they'd never want/need, then you're already on the path.
Passion:
If you don't have this for the problem you want to solve, maybe don't bother. This is the thing that gets you started in the early days. This is why you're excited to go to that meeting, spin up that Canva page, or write those first lines of code.
Patience:
I was going to say time initially, but you can't control time. What you can control is how you handle the wait. That's where patience is necessary. There'll be days when things are just not moving, and it appears everything has ground to a halt. You'll have to be patient. You'll have to learn how to look for opportunities while you wait. A lack of patience is going to blind you and put everyone around you on edge.
Paranoia:
You'll need a healthy dose of this. This is going to be your cocaine, and you'll have to be a high-performing addict. This means no one around you has to know about this. You'll run to the bathroom to sniff it once in a while and make sure you clean your nose before you come out. Why? Everyone freaks out once they know you're paranoid. Same way they freak out the day they see that white streak on your nose. But paranoia is every founder's secret weapon. It's how you stay ahead of the competition. It's how you obsess over your customer service. It's how you make sure your best people don't leave. Again, a healthy dose—whatever that means to you.
Empathy:
Always remember to be kind to yourself and the people you've brought on the journey with you. Don't act as if they are you. They are not. You'll have to learn to be emotionally intelligent while being objective at the same time. Don't just listen to people; hear them.
Skills:
This one is a no-brainer, but I think it's important to state. You need key skills that are going to be critical for your survival in the early stages. I put sales and product development—engineering especially—at the top of my list. I'm going to assume that you already have operational expertise in your problem space. These skills will save you a lot of time and money. Plus, you get to be in control of your momentum early on. So between you and your co-founder(s)/founding team, make sure you have a handle on these skills.
People:
The journey will be tough and hard and lonely; you'll need people. Either co-founders, a solid founding team, or deeply committed advisors, these people are going to be your support when all else is going to shit. I've seen cases where the only reason the company is alive today is the people. This only works if you surround yourself with the best people. Don't be mediocre. You can't afford that. In fact, that's a quick way to guarantee failure. Constantly vet the people around you and never be in a hurry to commit to new relationships.
Okay, you've gotten here. Good for you. It's totally okay if you've decided not to go ahead and start something. In fact, that's my preference for you. Keep that cushy job, mull over that idea for a little longer, enjoy those business class flights, keep expensing those bills, don't rush. What people don't tell you is that being employed is a quicker path to being a millionaire than owning a business.
Did you see that I didn't mention money? Lol. That's because it's never a reason to not become a founder. In my next post, we'll talk more about money.