Reflections After Shutting Down My First Startup
We have made the difficult decision to shut down ALAO. Uhfff. That was a tough one. I have been dreading writing this post from the moment I first discussed the possibility with my co-founders. But I feel it’s important to reflect on our journey and the lessons we learned, and express my immense gratitude for the people who supported us along the way.
As some of you may know, my co-founder, Matt, and I left Goldman Sachs in December 2021 to start ALAO — a retail investment platform to democratize access to consumer startups by letting anyone invest alongside celebrities and influencers. Through our time at Goldman, we had gotten very excited about the rise in retail investing, and it seemed obvious to us that early-stage consumer companies would be better off with a broad cap table. However, as the market changed and people became less inclined to invest, we realized we needed to pivot.
We decided to transform ALAO into a loyalty platform that rewarded customers with small slices of equity for being loyal to their favorite brands. We believed this was a unique and exciting proposition. However, we could not raise the necessary capital to see it through due to some challenges in the e-commerce space and the difficult fundraising landscape.
Despite how sad the last few weeks have been, I am incredibly grateful for the experience. Reflecting on the journey, my mind immediately jumps to February 2021, one of the luckiest times in ALAO’s history, when we added our CTO Nolan Donley to the founding team. Nolan believed in us and our mission when we had little to show him and dove head-first into problem-solving mode. He single-handedly built an amazing crowdfunding app for ALAO 1.0 and then didn’t flinch when we pivoted, seamlessly transitioning to developing a complex software dashboard for ALAO 2.0. I am forever indebted to him and Matt, who worked tirelessly to get ALAO off the ground while we leaned on each other for professional and personal support.
We were also lucky to be supported by a group of supportive investors who were quick to provide guidance as we encountered the speed bumps that are ever-present.
And finally, I need to acknowledge how none of this would be possible without the love and support of our family and friends. Startups are tough and emotionally taxing. It is absolutely critical to have a strong personal support system. I am blessed to have been surrounded by people who love and support me. The list of names that I want to call out here is long and continued to grow as we worked on ALAO, but I would like to single out my parents, who were unwavering in their support, even when they may have thought I was crazy to leave a high paying job to take a bet like this. And I need to thank my girlfriend Serena, who, on top of her real job, took on the role of part-time copywriter, part-time editor, and full-time therapist to me and the whole ALAO team.
Looking ahead, I’m taking time to reflect on my next steps. I will be sharing lessons learned, ideating on new concepts, and documenting my search for my next role on this blog and on TikTok, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I hope you’ll follow along as I navigate this next chapter.
In conclusion, while this is a challenging and sad moment, I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I cannot wait to get back into the arena. Thanks for the support and for reading.
