-$1,677 in my checking account

A note I wrote myself exactly a year ago.

On January 30th, 2015, the company I founded exactly a year ago just received it’s first check.

Not only is this our first set of revenue, but this single deal also makes us cash flow positive. It was an absolutely surreal day for me, especially after going through some particularly tough times early on.

Some startup founders are lucky enough to build a near instant success. But for most founders, you can spend years bootstrapping your startup, knowing statistically that there is only a 1 in 10 chance of you succeeding. For the first few months of working on Fresco News, I struggled quite a bit financially, juggling living expenses, NYU tuition, and the funds needed to kickstart a fledgling company. I can’t tell you how many times I had to scrounge around for spare coins just so I can pay the subway fare to get to my next team meeting…or debate whether or not I could really afford that second slice of dollar pizza.

While I’ve evened out since last year by supporting myself through small freelance projects, the experience I had for the first few months of starting Fresco News is one that rarely gets documented in the startup world. It’s very common to hear success stories without ever hearing about the periods of struggle startup founder(s) had to experience to get there.

To founders who may experience similar situations along their startup journey, here’s my advice:

1. Let the grand vision guide you. Envisioning your product eventually benefiting other peoples’ lives or even changing the world is singlehandedly the most important force in pushing through tough times along your startup journey. While it may be distant, that guiding light will always be there as long as you’re willing to keep looking up.
2. Surround yourself with a likeminded team. The simple act of having other people work on your idea alongside you creates an environment where you feel you’re a part of a movement.
3. Hustle. Don’t stop. Feel the need to win and defeat all odds of startup failure. Feel excited about working on your dream for 12+ hours each day, being the last out of the office, or sending 500 individually written cold emails to potential angel investors.

And most of all, keep the hunger alive. Get out there and go #BEASTMODE.

Published on 2.7.15. Follow my journey on Twitter or Facebook.