The Plunge Project — A Social Experiment in the Making (Part 1)
Today, Friday 30th September 2016, is a day that will go down in Anders Røpke’s history as a very big day. A day he will look back on in years to come as the one that saw him walk away from his comfortable, well-paid corporate job to take “the Plunge” into a great big new adventure, filled with excitement — and a whole world of uncertainty.
Who is Anders Røpke? The traditional work-related description goes something like this: Anders holds a BA in Developing Geography, a Masters Degrees in Geography & Geoinformatics (Københavns Universitet) as well as a Masters in Environmental Engineering (Danmarks Tekniske Universitet). He has many years of experience in a large corporation.
The entrepreneurial version starts today with the formation of a new company, his very own company Wind Power LAB (more on that later). It is fitting to describe today as being catalytic for Anders, for his family and his support network. He has chosen to take the path less travelled. Definitely not the easy option, when you are an extremely dedicated family man and the father of 2 young daughters. When we proposed the idea of this project to Anders, he said yes without any trepidation. He has bravely agreed to share the highs and lows of this monumental, life-changing decision and to expose us all to his hopes and fears — a bare-all, within the raw context of real life.
The plunge project is about much more than that, though. Our regular readers know how passionate we are about harnessing ‘the power of the pack’ * [editor’s note: this alludes to the power of the “pack of wolves” who draw their hunting strength from working together as a team]. We want to show how, when we collectively help each other, GREAT things can happen. We want to encourage others to ‘ask’ and ‘give’ more within their communities and to experience the rich follow-on effects this will have across all aspects of their lives.
We had the great pleasure of making Anders’ acquaintance during the MIT Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp programme on MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts last month. A dashing “Danish lad” with a strong presence and sunny disposition, Anders is a wonderful mix of luminous, spontaneous energy and cool planning capacity. The rhythm and intensity of the MIT Bootcamp programme did not allow us to connect with him as deeply as we would have wished to during our time in Boston, so this is a relationship that we have been nurturing and growing beyond the boundaries of distance, time, and the return back into our different respective lives. This project is strong, tangible proof that the bonds formed within the Alumni group can continue to sprout, blossom and yield yet endless new possibilities as we carefully cultivate the seeds of what has been sown. As we “discover” and share Anders’ story with you, we believe that new possibilities for connections and collaborations might emerge.
[Update on Project Progress]
Q: Anders, please tell us a little about how you have mapped things out for the near future. How far have you been able to progress your project during this period, whilst still carrying on working in the corporation you have been preparing to leave? In terms of team-building, financials, working space?
I did choose to quit, I have prepared for this, this is not just a “straight out” to quit my normal life. I have a plan. And a good one.
I spent all of my free time outside of office hours preparing for this. So my idea here is to use my old corporate working hours on my new project. Remove my own old project time from my spare time, and then let my new spare time be used for looking after my family and myself.
I’ve got a solid team around me now. My lead user persona candidate is also my friend and colleague, he will partner up with me and my project. That means we now have THE industry lead user on board our team.
Setting the team was my priority number one. We are now four people, with the right attitude towards each other, very different skills sets and also a shared vision for OUR project. I didn’t use KPIs, profiling, or references for the team configuration.
We simply connected and listened in on each others fields of interest, did a match to the industry problem we are solving, and then fully agreed to de-corporate the journey ahead of us. This is progress: we are progressing as a team. Imagine what it will be like when focusing full time on this. We now have now a big-time hacker “speaking python”, an industry hustler focused on business, a hatcher organising our future tasks, and a lead user hipster demanding things almost impossible to deliver. We have a Chairman already, who knows the industry and gets the value proposition. He has been on several innovation boards for ages, assessing business ideas. Our relationship was born out of luck, clear value proposition, good chemistry and mutual respect for each-other.
My new premises are already set up. During the 2nd week of September I signed my new office rental agreement. Tomorrow my partner in crime and I will move into an office with another company. I think it is important to facilitate the work environment and especially to put some effort into creating our new identity as company. Even when you are bootstrapping your startup. It might be conservative to focus on office space, but it does the trick for me. To me physical surroundings and work environment are key factors in both my entrepreneurial identity, creative process and well-being. And it all starts with having your own place to go to for work.
Got my last pay check, so I need to reconsider my revenue streams. And I need to get rid of all the noise I have in my system and focus. Primarily the noise in my system came from my corporate job. The noise is hidden in many shapes and colors. Work pressure, deadlines, politics, complaints about work, career paths, to much to do, lack of motivation, you name it.
Going from one big revenue stream and spreading out into minor revenue streams is the situation. My new economy will consist of some revenue from renting out an apartment. In addition I have a small revenue stream from my other project evaluating real estate mortgage loans. It’s a lead engine online. For my new project Wind Power LAB we have received some funding for 12 months in kind of a seed capital or grant, with no ownership deal. That money will be used for Wind Power LAB development only, not as salary. And then I have prioritised to go all the way in order to be anti-fragile financially speaking. I have saved up money over the last couple of years and now also borrowed money in my house in order for me to remove financial noise from my system.
[Developments — the Good and the Challenging]
Q: What has it been like to transition in this “in-between” space? On the one hand building the new, whilst still dwelling in, and having to manage, the old? Were there any awkward or difficult moments?
Recently I was approached by one of the most respected technical specialists I know of within the wind power industry. He wanted to check in on the rumours about my soon-to-be exit. And so I took a deep breath and told him: “Yes, it’s true. I have resigned my position. On October 1st I will start Wind Power LAB. A dedicated innovation lab for the wind power industry.” Then I told him my vision for the first product, the rough contours of my plan and the user problem that I will solve. His response was very encouraging and is now part of my primary market research: ‘I want a service exactly like this’, he said. So I am definitely on to something!
I took out some time to reach out to my primary stakeholders and peers. Discussed my soon to be career move and the concept of me being on the other side of the table. I had established an elevator pitch for my exit. Very useful as it was sometimes pretty uncomfortable to explain this internally at my ex-workplace. By going strong I actually got even more support for my decision.
My pitch went: “For years I have been screening for concepts and products for the company to adopt. Now I would like to try developing the needed products”.
This was my way of telling my colleagues that I will stay within the industry, but not as competitor. Got some reactions like ‘Somebody gotta do it’, ‘with your personal profile it just makes so much sense’, etc. So this was a very good way of ending my time in the company, feeling ahead of my game in this. Not leaving because I am forced to do it, but because I want to do it.
So I have learned to face the uncomfortable situations of explaining myself and to stand up for my decisions. At that makes me grow a bit in my own eyes. I spent my last days in my ex-company building stronger relations and network.
Investing in my network seemed like the only right thing to do the last couple of days before I handed in my stuff and left the premises for the last time.
[Feelings, Emotions and Visualisation]
Q: What are some of the hopes and fears that have crossed your mind during the weeks leading up to this big day?
The worst thing is the voice in my head from time to time. ‘Will I make it? Can I make it?’ So much for taking the free fall and all the risk. When it comes down to it, you did quit your job and now you got your last paycheque. So my feelings inside are many, from the entire spectrum: from deep fear, to being unstoppable.
As a next step I will start trusting a bit more in myself. I own this, and I know exactly how to deliver my product. I can really do this. That fuels me with a feeling of ‘bring it on’. Can’t wait to go full time on this, 100 percent focused. I know I will succeed. My self-esteem is on the rise.
On the other hand, some days I felt a bit frustrated with the whole transition. It got better, as I got some much needed support. Reached out in the middle of the night once to a fellow Bootcamper on the other side of the planet, to discuss my rising level of self doubt. Just need to accept that I will use the whole spectrum of emotions while doing my plunge. It’s part of my transition. It is hard emotional work to keep myself together on a personal level.
Some nights I felt excited, bad stomach, tense, waking up once per hour throughout the night.
Controlling the plunge is what this is all about. There is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, when you control it. I will try to get to a point where I actually will enjoy the ride. I need to adjust my need of security layers to the entrepreneurial mindset and environment. It is very rewarding to get a business to run, especially when it is due to your own effort.
In my new life I can take our bucket bike and bicycle my two kids to kindergarten. Then I will drive through the streets of Copenhagen to my new work place — my company — allowing me to change scene and get into work mode with ultra sharp focus. That means time for me to play with my kids and discuss crazy stuff with Emma, my lovely wife. It also means that I will get some time free to address my health, mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing.
Actually enjoying the ride is my wife’s biggest concern in this, on my behalf. And the other day, she told me: ‘it doesn’t matter if Wind Power LAB will be a success financially. I think the success is within, doing what you are doing now, taking the decision to quit and actually go through with this’. Furthermore my beloved but skeptical mother in law continued: ‘you need to do this, otherwise you will regret it later in life’.
So going forward I will remind myself each day to enjoy the ride, don’t overthink it. Be intelligent about risk and de-risking, but I should avoid being paralysed by the fear within. Because I literally have nothing to fear.
[Growth of Network]
Q: Have you experienced any changes in how you go about growing your network?
I have noticed that I am becoming more of a hatcher when working my network. Maybe I started out hustler style. Now I end up documenting my findings, creating a web of information and intelligence I combine and use as fuel for my product plan and strategy. I really love doing this. It becomes more and more clear that I have wasted a lot of time and personal potential by staying in my corporate Cinderella sleep. But now I am awake — hitting it hard. I have started to realise that I was born to become an entrepreneur. Creating new business runs in my blood and I don’t need to ignore it anymore.
My network increases every single day. I tell the concept over and over again, to as many people I can. Feels great to be doing it! I can still feel that I have grown a bit of pride inside. It has been a while since I had that feeling in my professional life.
[How the Community has been of Support]
Q: Have you found your Community to be of support, and if so, in what ways?
I really appreciate the fact that I have friends from the bootcamp to reach out to. It gives you an idea of the value of the pack. They are the ones who see things differently, my tribe. I have really learned a lesson on the importance of support and network. This is now part of my grit. That is why we all need to #HELP staying in touch with each other, as you never know when you need help from somebody you have shared an extreme bootcamp experience with.
In London last week I had the pleasure of having lunch with my friend and fellow Bootcamper Paul Lam. I was all smile afterwards as Paul is a true inspiration. I am grateful that we met in Boston. Felt great about receiving feedback and ideas regarding my project. Such a joy to discuss project specific issues with such a skilled entrepreneur.
[Request for Help from the Community]
Q: What help would you like to request from the community?
I really need the support of the pack in this. Taking the plunge is tough being an engineer. Because I can’t stop thinking of the law of gravity. My idea is the parachute in this metaphor. Family, friends, colleagues and my fellow Bootcampers #HELP we have such a potential if we trust in our ideas and in each other. So please support me in doing this and remember to support people you know by giving constructive encouragement. Let people dare to dream, they might take the plunge one day. Enough with the law of Jante, a pattern of group behaviour towards individuals, especially within Scandinavian communities, that negatively portrays and criticises individual success and achievement as unworthy and inappropriate.
Never stop dreaming of impossible things.
Anders story continues in Part 2 — read it here.
‘The Plunge Project’ was created to capture and share one man’s account of the realities of transitioning from the working in the Corporate world to becoming a full-time Entrepreneur. We invite you to travel alongside us as Anders’ journey unfolds over the next two months. Maybe you are currently in the same position as Anders? Or you have dreams of ‘taking the plunge’ or know someone who does? Follow www.infinityfoundry.com/theplunge
