Solo Founders, In It Together
Supportive individuals, sharing community wisdom.
As a startup founder, I’m always trying to learn new things.
I come from a software engineering background, so all the other aspects of running a company — designing a product, talking to customers, executing marketing campaigns, etc, etc, etc — I’ve had to learn on the job. And every time I’ve had to absorb some new business concept or develop a new skill, I’ve found incredible articles and tutorials online, written by generous people from the startup community sharing their insights.
It’s one of the reasons I enjoy entrepreneurship so much!
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the shared wisdom of this community, and how I might be able to give something back. In particular, I’ve been thinking a lot about the unique experience of being a solo founder, and the set of soft-skills I’ve had to develop over the past three years in order to thrive in spite of the often emotionally overwhelming demands of the job.
Yes, the hard-skills are important too: software engineering, graphic design, strategic planning, and fundraising are obviously essential. But too often, we neglect the development of soft-skills like patience, generosity, empathy, and humility that give us the inner-peace to persevere. To be a successful solo founder, your personal development is much more important than your software development.
When you’re a solo entrepreneur, the company you create is a direct extension of your self, so if you want your company to be healthy and vital, you’ll have to develop that health and vitality within yourself before you can project it outward into the culture of your work.
So this is my way of giving something back to the community.
Solo Founder Magazine will cover the full breadth of topics relevant to starting a startup, including all the essential hard-skills you’d expect of us. But we’re also making a concerted effort to explore the intangible and deeply-personal aspects of entrepreneurship, in hope of establishing a kind of battle-worn camaraderie among solo founders.
Most importantly, we’ll showcase stories and experiences of founders from diverse backgrounds and cultures. I’m especially interested in publishing articles written by entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups, who probably need the solidarity of community more than anyone. So please reach out to me if you’d like to contribute. Your story can make a difference.
Paradoxically, as solo founders, we’re all in this together.
