Sharing this essay published in Skift by my pregnant wife, who is also my co-founder at Boutiq. We recently went through the Techstars Austin accelerator and also graduated from the YC Startup School 2019 class.
So true, and fully agree and love the quote by Randy Komisar from his book, The Monk and the Riddle:
“At key points in my life, I’ve found it helpful to ask myself a simple question about what I was doing at that moment:
What would it take for you to be willing to spend the rest of your life on [it]?”
Yep, see my comment above in reply to another comment. I hate using the title CEO, but I also knew that I needed to use it here in order to get published and then get some attention for the article. Frankly, I hoped people would see "CEO" as ironic.
As I wrote a moment ago, I just call myself "a co-founder" of a startup and, when pressed on title, will use "ceo" rather than the ALL CAPS version.
A friend put it well: "Until you I-P-O, you're just a c-e-o."
Cheers,
Dan
(author of the article & a reQwip co-founder)
I agree in full with this comment. I actually never introduce myself as anything other than "a co-founder of reQwip" and when asked to print my role, I try to stick with that, occasionally allowing (when pressed) for "ceo" rather than the ALL CAPS version.
Which is very core to the point I wanted to make. This startup founding experience is not the glamorous joyride that many imagine based on the VentureBeat and TechCrunch and mainstream media articles that we love to read. This is a "shit, $5 for a beer?! ... maybe I will have water instead ..." lifestyle.
Startup life is an out and out hustle and grind. You find money to oxygenate the flame wherever you can. You think outside the box for unique ways to bring attention to your company that don't charge by the click. You recognize there is no script, you will never be on top of things, so just #JFDI.
And most importantly, you put your ego on the shelf. You identify what you suck at doing and add awesomely talented team members who can kick ass in those areas. You accept that kids half your age are probably already doing what you are doing and can do it better than you, so you work even harder to stay competitive (or you partner with them). And wherever and whenever a situation requires you to roll up your sleeves and do the hard and unsexy work necessary to keep going and growing, you do that unflinchingly.
I do the latter a lot, in no small part because my teammates are indeed better than me at almost everything. My job is just to block and tackle so they can do what they are so good at doing and shine as a result. Coffee bitch? That's me.
And yeah, those Uber rides help me pay for that coffee (as well as our marketing, ads, etc.). #JFDI