One day, my friend George, took me on his sailing boat and this experience taught me an important lesson about entrepreneurship.

It was a shinny and beautiful summer day. We were 4; 3 of us never sailed before. We went to Sausalito and just after getting out of the marina, the wind starts to blow. I’d never imagine sailing to be like “that”. I thought it would be very calm. I even thought it would be boring.

When our boat starts to lean so much I could touch the water with my hand sitting on the deck, I knew I wanted to learn how to sail.

It’s fun.

It is hard to describe why I immediately liked sailing. As usual, it’s a combination of things. The freedom of being out there, doing whatever you want, going anywhere you want, at the pace you want. There is no road to follow, no trace. We shut down the GPS and all the electronics. We look at the shape of our sails, the tell-tales and feel the wind on our cheeks to know how to adjust everything. There is almost no rule but “don’t be stupid”. It’s beautiful.

And suddenly, everything changes. The wind starts to blow heavier, stronger, faster. The current bites the keel harder. You start to lose control. It is more difficult. The crew starts to work on their sheets, the skipper on helm gives the direction. No one fight against nature, but dances and cooperates with it.

It becomes physical. We get tired. But we made it through.

It’s fun.

After I spent 2 months sailing almost every week, I quickly passed my exams and got certified. I went back to my friend George and asked him what I school I should attend next to get better. My objective is to be able to sail cross ocean.

He smiled and told me: “just sail”.

Something will break.

George told me that over and over again. No matter how much you prepare, no matter how many books or how many hours you spend at school learning how to forecast everything, something will break. That’s just the nature of sailing. It can be a screw, it can be a sail, it can be a sheet, it can be anything. You just have to deal with it.

There are many lessons I’m learning from sailing that are true when doing a project. For example, the way the crew members work in an incredible cross-functional way is something I think every company should learn. Or how you should never fight against the trend but go with it.

And what really helped me is to be ok with the idea that I’m starting a journey where something will break.

After my former start-up, I spent almost 3 years to learn everything I could, done post-mortem, talked to other founders, helped many friends with their own projects, before starting my new project. And still, I break things. Everyday.

But what changed is: it’s OK. I just have to know what to fix, when and how.