Entrepreneurs

I Wrote a Song for My Startup

/ Susan / Leave a comment

Okay, maybe not exactly original.  Readers of this blog may not have been alive when this song was recorded or popular, so maybe I can get away with it.

My last post was a poetic, meandering bit of self-reflection about how selfish it was for me to pursue a line of work that could negatively impact the people I love the most.

Well, sorry kids.  I can’t do it.  I’m addicted to this work.

Every day, there’s another death. There’s another reason to keep going.  I realize I’m starting over, reinventing myself at the bottom of a low-paying field, yet all arguments to give up fall away in the face of the opportunity to make a real dent in this particular universe. So, I’m continuing.  I took a pause, but that was about it.  I grabbed those bootstraps and yanked harder.

Good news is coming.  I promise.  Stay tuned.

News flash: it’s not about the money.

(But, you know, we do need that to survive… so, I encourage your support.)

 

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/ Susan / Leave a comment

zuckI just watched Mark Zuckerberg do a live Q&A on Facebook.  He said a few things that I will quote:

“We’re here to connect the world… The best entrepreneurs don’t try to create a company.  They want to make a change in the world and help people… I am not a cool person.  I never tried to be cool.  I spend every day thinking how to best serve this community.”

I wake up every day and work on either Change Agents Worldwide or my new passion, Big Mountain Data. Both businesses are precisely more like “projects” (as he described Facebook was in its early years) than businesses.  Both have soulful purposes and have drawn incredible people to our mission. It’s magical to be able to wake up every day and take another step on these journeys.

I see so many founders mindf*ked over how they’re going to raise their round, tweak their MVP, secure the perfect cofounder, nail the product/market fit, get the “right” coverage, blah blah blah.

Just do it.  Build something you love.  The reward is in the work and seeing your dream unfold.  When you start racking up results from your efforts, it’s the absolute best feeling in the world. You can’t possibly predict in the beginning what your business will look like or will need over the long term.  But you can predict what will inspire passion in your team. Focus on that, and just get something out there.

You can see the whole Q&A here.