Ramblings of a first-time founder:
Week Ending 2/15/2019
It was a strange week, to say the least.
In fact, one of the most up and down weeks we’ve had in a while — a mix of progress and set backs. For starters, we got turned down quite a bunch.
Investors, “No”.
Potential clients, “No”.
Being a cynic, I immediately thought about shutting down shop. But, forcing an optimistic perspective — blaming that on the 4:30 AM pacing—I realized there are several reasons to stay happy.
We stumbled upon the first reason for this being an “all-in-all” good week when our developer confirmed that our first MVP will be live by the third or fourth week of March.
It’s costing us, but definitely worth it.
Speaking of costing us, the homemade lobster three ways turned out quite nice, albeit too much for one sitting. “For the first course, madam,” we tried a lobster bisque courtesy of NYT Cooking. Following that, a set of claws roasted in a gin-lemon sauce, inspired by a random YouTube video. For the third dish — paprika smoked half lobster, a FoodieCrush inspiration. Paired beautifully with our 2014 Nuits-Saint-Georges (whatever that means) we were supposed to save until 2024 (sorry, Tony of Cork Wines). It was, however, the sticky toffee pudding main course that stole the show.
Our update list crossed the 40 firm mark. Second reason.
But, the investor responses we got this week spanned the spectrum, but a few were show stoppers:
The deserved snarky response: “I happen to like resumes.”
Said in response to one of our messaging points “resumes are dead”. Keep in mind, this VC specializes in medical/healthcare technology so our research on that firm was thin to say the least.
The subtle no, but clear FOMO response: “This isn’t a fit for us today, but reach out again when you raise your next round.”
I am pretty sure Google now recommends that line.
And, my favorite, the blunt, but much appreciated fuck off response: “I don’t have the bandwidth to connect.”
Noted.
About 10 of the 40 are legitimately interested in our next round, meaning we can reasonably raise a couple of million dollars by September. Silver lining. We also got a meeting scheduled in March… in Chicago. Not thinking about not having any other reason to go to Chicago. I quickly calculated the ROI we want from that meeting. Its roughly 250%. Why I did this is still a mystery.
Good week reason number three came from a referral new client opportunity.
Let’s just say its the human version of the “dogs under water” book we all stop and read at Barnes & Noble. The 23 people that still go there know what I am talking about. It’s a much more stressful experience pitching business than walking the hallowed shelves of B&N.
On that note, I figured out a new stress relieving solution.
Recently, making the bed and organizing the closet has been much more stress relieving than eating on the couch and watching an hour of Netflix. Never thought I’d say that. Just ask Adrian. He’ll confirm the likely scenario that I “haven’t moved”. It is quite ironic, however, that a couple of hours of Marie Kondo led to this epiphany.
With that in mind, time to spark some joy.
