#WeekendMusingsโฆ whilst finishing a book I picked up in Chile, I was struck by the life of William Greenwood and the remarkable and free life he led in the 1870s in Chile - free from the shackles of Victorian England trappings โฆ living life on his own terms โฆ savouring every moment, and most of all - taking risks that would be frowned upon..
Being a Bootstrapped Founder has given me many things. The one I treasure most as a womanโฆ is FREEDOM.
๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ to move fast. ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ to take collective risks. ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ to say, โThis feels rightโฆ shall we just do it?โ
Last week on a team call, we realised something simple but important. Quietly, in the background of all our enterprise work, weโd built a fair few little AI utilities. Nothing fancy. Just useful things. Things we actually use.
And then someone said, โWhy donโt we just put these out there for everyone?โ
No 30-page business case. No steering committee. No six rounds of approvals.
We did a quick straw poll on the call. Everyoneโs cameras lit up. Heads nodding. Gut said โgoโโฆ so we went.
In a few hours weโd decided to:
โข ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฝ a small public website to host these AI utilities โข ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ a Christmassy feelโฆ because why not, itโs December ๐ โข ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ to get it live before Christmas
The past few days have been pure joy. Choosing colours. Arguing (nicely) about microcopy. Seeing the team light up as their ideas shaped the look and feel.
Is it different from our core enterprise focus as an AI-first, consulting-led AI solutions firm? ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐.
Does it still feel right for us? ๐๐ฏ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐.
This is the bit I love as a woman founder: I get to trust my instincts and back my team. I donโt have to ask permission to experiment. We can decide together, move together, and own the risk together.
No endless nay-sayers poking a million holes. Just a small team, aligned, building something they believe in.
Weโre days away from launching this little Christmas side project to the worldโฆ and honestly, moments like this remind me:
For all the chaos and responsibility, this really is the best job in the world.