Goodbye startup, hello mid-market

Congratulations, you have released a product that contains all the features that you promised to your early adopters. For the past (9) months you have labored for this result. Marketing/sales has an awesome product that they can ship, immediately.

Great! you have exited the startup phase of your business. You are now at the mid-market phase of your business. This is big change. And you are suffering from postpartum (post-product release) blues. Here is some advice:

• Be a proud parent. Don’t look back. Giving birth is painful. Forget the pain; celebrate the result (product). Rest. Give talks.
• Be a proud grandparent. Look at the product with fresh eyes. Imagine you have never seen the product before. You are looking at something with a sense of wonder — peering through the glass.
• Get perspective. First time parents tend to fixate on their newborn’s activities, concerns, accomplishments. > 90% of the conversation is about their child. Don’t fall into this trap of being fixated about your product (i.e., self absorbed). Get beyond yourself. Look at your customer with fresh eyes. Read about their lives. I read the semi-annual business report of one of our clients. Wellzesta Life was one bullet item among about 100. Humility!
• Find new purpose. Giving birth is purposeful. Acting as CTO gave you purpose. Consider: (1) Get back to being CEO. Hone the skills needed to lead a mid-market company. (2) Generate content for marketing — data science, anyone?

If all else fails, make your next product :)