The $400 Opportunity to Get My Ass Kicked Everyday
Written on Oct 16, 2012
I’m on a seemingly urine-soaked Southwest 8am flight to San Jose, spending about $400 for a 4-hour turnaround trip for a chance at a job that could change my life. It started a little more than one week ago, as it usually does, with a cup of coffee.
On Saturday, October 13th, I sat down for coffee with Tracy Lawrence. The night before, she sent a mysterious text inviting her friends to head to a local bar to say goodbye, because she was leaving for the bay area for 4 months. While we sipped on coffee, she told me how her life had turned 180 degrees just a few days before. She told me how her business just got accepted into one of the top accelerator/incubators in silicon valley. Incubators give businesses the opportunity to jump start their businesses with a little bit of early funding, mentorship, access to investors, and more. Acceptance rates into these programs are under 5%.
500 Startups is one of the top 10 incubators in the country, and I was extremely excited for her opportunity to grow her business through such a program.
Then, she asked me if I would consider joining her as her Director of Operations in Mountain View. When you go through such a program, you’re trying to raise enough money to give your organization 18 months of life. Convincing investors to give you that much money is a full-time operation. Tracy had step away from running her business to instead raise money full-time. With her technical co-founder doing everything, they needed an addition to the team, and she wanted to see if I would be interested.
Initially, I thought of all the reasons why I shouldn’t. I had invested a lot of time in building Six Taste, and while it was close to me being able to step away from the day-to-day, it wasn’t there yet. I was heavily involved in my volunteer organizations and they would struggle without me. I have a girlfriend of almost six years that I would have to leave for an extended period of time. How could I sublet my house?
But then, I listened to the flutterings in my stomach. I knew the opportunity was right because I was scared. I’m never scared; I’m always confident in my ability to outperform my peers. In this case, I would be working among some of the brightest entrepreneurs in the country. I hadn’t felt this fear of failure in quite some time. I almost didn’t recognize the feeling, which was a sign in and of itself that I hadn’t been taking enough risks with my life. Fear was clarifying; it brought to surface a primal understanding that my consciousness had buried. I was playing it safe and had become to comfortable with my current life. This would be a true test. I would need to perform at an extremely high level. I would probably get my ass kicked everyday. It’s what I need at this stage of my life.
So, when Tracy asked me 2 days ago to fly up to Mountain View to meet with them in person at the 500 Startups office, I bit the bullet, emptied out my wallet, and booked my flight, just for the CHANCE at this opportunity.
I know that this flight is just the start of a series of events that could turn my world upside-down. I’m excited to be scared.
