The Life of a Startup

Here is an email I sent this morning to my team. First, I wanted to have them see that most startups go through the same struggles that we go through. Second, I wanted them to know that I have full confidence, faith, and trust in their abilities and that I see them as leaders within our company.

The email features a blog post by Mark Suster of GRP Partners called Entrepreneurshit.

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Greetings,

I hope the week is going well.

I’m outside on a patio in Kauai doing a little reading and contemplating.

I’ll be doing that a lot this week, so you may get more emails. 🙂

Below is a link for an an article I just finished from Mark Suster on the real life of a startup. I met with Mark during our last round. Good dude.

Entrepreneurshit

The takeaways:

Sometimes I get frustrated and I wonder if we’re the only company struggling to find market fit. Are we the only ones that got off track? Does anyone else have issues with hitting metrics? Why in Gods name can’t we get a teacher application that works better? How do I get the entire company to move faster?

The truth of the matter is that these things are fixable and will pass. Doing a startup is not glamorous – full of highs and lows, almost-wins, and busted quarterly plans.

However, what will see us through is that we, as a team, (a) never doubt our outcome (b) challenge each other to get better, (c) learn quickly and apply those learnings throughout the company, (d) have each other’s back (e) work towards truly creating value for the people we serve.

As you start prepping for next year, I want you to raise the bar – for yourself, your team, and each other.

Start thinking about what you want to get done next year. Design your life. Require more of yourself, and judge your own success based on how well you are helping your team succeed.

YOU are the leaders of this company; I want you to digest that – own it – let it settle in. When this company makes it, you will be the reason.

Today, ask yourself, “How do I raise my game next year?”, then take action to do it.

Entrepreneurshit

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