2 AM Thoughts on Twentysomething Startup Life

By Alexa on June 24 2009 posted in Uncategorized with 2 comments

Since when did public enemy number one equal “the man”? Maybe this is a product of the recession or maybe the fact that I just have adventurous friends, but it seems to me like these days, everyone is in start-up mode.

As someone who’s been at it now for officially 3 months, I can only conclude the following: this isn’t for everyone. We can all fantasize about determining our own hours, avoiding morning commutes, and having the luxury to do what we want on our terms. However, being in start-up mode comes with the burden of doing everything for yourself, relentless multi-tasking, endless networking, and this notion that you’re on 24/7.

There’s that John Lennon quote, “Life’s what happens when your’e too busy making plans,” and I have to wonder if that’s true or not. Will I look back at my 20′s thinking life passed me by or will I embrace this experience as a path to self discovery? Other girls my age are thinking about boys, weekends at the beach, and what to wear. I’m thinking about cash flow, invoices, revenue streams, and how to take over the Internet.

By no means am I an expert on entrepreneurship, but I have to believe that we’re all out of our minds. In order to start a company, you have to be absolutely crazy. You have to be crazy to the point where you love something so much, people are actually willing to pay you to be passionate. You have to be willing to be disciplined and willing to sacrifice. You have to be okay hearing the word no. Most of all, you have to be stubborn enough to fight for yes.

In the words of my wonderful Dartfriends, “It’s all about the small victories.”

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Cort

It’s all about the small victories!

I love the line about not being afraid of ‘No’. I think that is one thing that kills young entrepreneurs because we want people to believe in what we are doing. The reality is to get passed the people who say ‘No’, understand why they say ‘No’ and quickly get on to the next person until you find the person who believes in your product or service. Can’t be afraid of the ‘No’.

Published on 24 June 2009

Adam Pieniazek

You also have to be ready for your friends and family to tell you to “get a real job!”.

And be ready not to make any money for x months. Sometimes you get lucky and make money right off the bat, but more often than not you’ll have zero credibility and thus zero cash flow for a little while.

The way I see it, it’s crazy not to take a chance now and start a company you’re passionate about. It’s crazy to just take a stable 9-5 job doing something you don’t really want to do just because it’s the model our society pushes out there.

And yes, you have to be extremely stubborn in terms of not taking no for an answer, but also flexible enough to change with the landscape and adapt to the signals you get from your clients and the market.

Best of luck to you, it’s a crazy, stress-ful, exciting ride and completely worth it!

Published on 25 June 2009