Taking the First Step in your Startup Journey
Iām writing this for those of us who have a dream. We have a dream of building things that are used by millions or even billions of users every day. One of my companyās investors and advisors, put it this way:
We all have one life to live. Why not work on things that have the biggest impact possible?
Terrence Yang
For years and years I was paid well to build software on behalf of other companies, but deep in my soul, I was always unsatisfied. It felt like I had trained my whole life for the Olympics, but was only competing in local 10kās. I wanted more responsibility. I wanted to touch more users. I wanted more glory.
There will be challenges
Everybody I know has a big ābutā. Come on Simone, letās talk about your big ābutā.
Pee Weeās Big Adventure
The dream is there, but then comes the rub. We all have big ābutās in our lives. āI donāt have the money.ā āI donāt have the time.ā āThe idea is not good enough.ā āI donāt have the right connections.ā āI donāt have the right team.ā āI donāt have the right skills.ā And so we come to this point where we have the idea that we want a startup, and the truth is, thatās where it ends for most people. Days pass and inaction takes precedence.
We must take action
The follow-through, the execution, is a thousand times more important than a āgreat ideaā. In fact, if the execution is perfect, it sometimes barely matters what the idea is.
The first step? Just do it
And bluff your way through it.
Felix Dennis, How to Get Rich
And so we have to decide not just to have ideas and dreams, but to act upon them. Itās not about having the perfect idea, or the perfect skills, or the perfect opportunity. Itās about deciding to be a person of action that will live their best possible life pursuing their dreams and passions.
The Stakes
So what are the stakes? The stakes are our lives. Literally, we are all going to die and at some point we have to make a decision whether we are going to choose to live a life of significance and impact, then we have to be tireless in executing on that. Most people will choose not to live their life like that and will settle for mediocrity, but we donāt have to. Each day we have a choice to hit the snooze button on our life, or take a stand. This is about taking a stand if our dreams are to build software of significance.
This is about not settling. This is for people who want to make the absolute biggest impact they can. If youāre looking to build apps for a small niche audience, or for your local dry cleaner, or custom workflow apps for enterprise, then this is not the mission for you.
If youāre still here reading, youāre here because startups are calling you like they called me. Letās get on with it.