There are days I question what I was thinking when I embarked on this journey and yes I’d read all there is to read on startup life and consumed all the podcasts and seen all the videos on YouTube preaching about the dos and donts and bracing … but I don’t think I ever realised exactly how the sleepless nights and non stop adrenaline can take their toll over time .
As my cofounder Monisha Sherawat said just today … this is a marathon.. not a sprint …
So we got off the hamster wheel for a bit this week to hit up warm connects and people who have been there and done that and know us as people and the potential and can give their honest opinions and guidance without mincing words … not just about the strategic direction of the company (we are about to spend some serious retirement savings when we start the next phase as a bootstrap start up) .... … but also about how we as individuals who are hustling day to day feel its inevitable impact on personal life and the lack of time for anything …
Hugely helpful !
Just a little bit of validation of your strategy … a healthy dose of cynicism … a sprinkling of the devil’s advocate and being affirmed that you are not entirely crazy and might even be onto good things is enough to put that spring back into your step and steady you a bit .
As startups most founders get so caught up on this hamster wheel, it is sometimes hard to pause and reflect and pivot if needed and double click into some of the decisions we are making …
…. Especially as we start the slightly daunting yet exciting work of building building building …. (YAYY!🎉🎉)
Also it’s fine if the ship you are steering is facing rocky seas as long as the ship itself is strong and has a warm corner to come home to at the end of the day and people who are your constants that you can share things with. Sharing my constant here - 21 years apart with my co-founder - and how so much has changed and yet so little …. ♥️
And here is also how my mornings begin -showing up everyday to first talk to her and bounce off everything from the mundane to the super important … before the craziness hits