My Key Insight on How to Start
By Danny Holtschke from StartupGeist
My key insight to starting anything is to find and develop your personal mission. To find your personal work as a freelancers at numerous projects to discover your values and strengths.
Eventually you’ll discover what drives you, what you want to contribute to, what problem you might want to solve.
For me the secret is to go from many different experiences that you gain through a wide range of projects to ONE project you commit to that fits who YOU are.
To know that you need to know who you are. Find out what your ideal life is.
I was too dazzled by the startup world and tech billionaires at the beginning of my journey. I blindly started a startup and assumed that every startup founder would succeed and become rich and famous. Of course, it’s wrong. For every Facebook or Google, there are numerous startup failures. Most startups fail. Only a few succeed.
That’s when I realized that I started off the wrong way.
That’s why I recommend that if you don’t have a startup idea that suits your values and your personal mission, you should start as a freelancer. Take time to discover your mission and your talents by doing various projects.
By doing you will be discover. Not by thinking.
Freelancing allows you to build a portfolio, acquire basic business lessons and strengthen your soft skills. All required attributes for successfully starting a company.
How did I find my personal mission?
In short, I went through many trial and errors engaging in a wide range of projects with an even wider range of different people. I explored many different angles and didn’t leave a stone unturned.
My family and most friends questioned my approach of trying and leaving — if something doesn’t work. As if I wouldn’t have stamina and perseverance to follow through. And it might be a valid point …
BUT nothing felt worthwhile following until I discovered what I want to be working on and fully commit my energy and time.
During my work for Startupbootcamp, a startup accelerator in Berlin, in 2014 after leaving my first startup I developed three concepts, I wanted to test:
- StartupSales.de — ‘Learn to predictably attract new customers’
- StartupGeist.com — ‘Learn how to start a startup’
- StartupGeist.de — ‘Entdecke deine Unternehmer-Träume’ (German for “Discover your entrepreneurial dreams”)
I decided to go along with StartupGeist — even though the sales idea might have been financially more rewarding.
Even though I defined a target group for StartupGeist, it still was tooooo big. I lost track of the readers I originally had in mind. Luckily, during my lecture at the Berlin School of Economics and Law where I taught ‘Entrepreneurship’, I regained my focus about my ideal targeted readers.
— Lessons Learned StartupGeist: I launched too late and confused my target readers. Fortunately, external events gave me some direction on how to decide. As I was (a student) and am (a first-time startup founder, and digital entrepreneur) part of both target groups, I am following one of the most important startup mantras.
Scratch you own itch (a.k.a. solve your own problem).
With StartupGeist I now target students and recent graduates (#millenials). I am contributing with:
- a BLOG — in English
- a PODCAST — in German
- a free MEMBERS AREA — in English (to be launched)
- a free Startup Knowledge Base — in English (to be launched)
The startup knowledge base might be helpful at the beginning of your startup journey because finding and searching valuable stuff on Google is hard. Here I aim at compiling valuable resources for starters.
What is my personal mission?
StartupGeist will be the vessel for going after my personal vision — a 21st century Entrepreneurship University. A life-long learning approach. Nothing to be completed in weeks or months with a certificate.
Being an entrepreneur is a way of life.
A way of personally growing. A way of exceeding your expectations day in and day out.
I want to infect more millennials with the StartupGeist — for building companies, solving meaningful problems and accelerating their careers.
The StartupGeist is a Startup-like mindset of the most successful digital entrepreneurs and startups. These success principles are universal and do not only apply in startups. They help any entrepreneur to start and build a digital business.
In their essence, Startup-like mindset is a set of success principles about how to start, test and execute an idea.
Share your ❤ below — and respond with your thoughts.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
I am Danny and started StartupGeist to help students and recent graduates build a business — and have a good life. Why? To be free, financially independent and healthy. How? Build a growth mindset and deliberately practice skills that turn your ideas into something bigger.
