The joy of starting up for yourself
Documenting my startup journey
The date was 13th February, 2017. I was a perfectly happy employee at Sana Commerce, managing the regional marketing efforts there. I had great colleagues, an understanding manager and a lot of interesting work on my plate. Yet, before the day was over, I had handed over my resignation and taken the first step to leave Sana for good.
Many of my colleagues certainly thought I was making a too important move too fast, and at times I doubted it too. In fact, before I talked to my manager to announce my final decision, I wanted to give in way too many times.
But my newfound bravery persisted.
As much as it seems like a snap decision, it wasn’t. I had wanted to start up for myself for some time. I had known. Yet, the speed at which the events of February 13th went by was not something I had expected.
A tedious amount of lierature about entrepreneurship gets produced everyday. It’s overly-romanticized to the point of insanity. Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, it’s the new hot thing. Even though most would never make the leap of leaving behind a stable job to court uncertainty, they’re almost always left wrapped in a thin veil of guilt, and inexplicable regret, for not being audacious enough. The literature intimidates easily.
I have to shamelessly admit that I’ve been fascinated by this literature. But I did make the leap.
At Sana, I had had a fantastic 2-year run. I couldn’t have asked for a better first job, or a better team to have worked with. I enjoyed the journey immensely. But here’s the thing about journeys: sometimes you’ve got to change the path to discover true joy. The most delightful gems are often found in the paths less trodden.
One thing a colleague said to me on my last day has stuck with me:
“Not every dreamer is a doer, and not every doer is a dreamer. You have the deadly combination of being both a dreamer and a doer.”
February 13th was when I finally realized that I should stop dreaming and start doing. While both these ingredients matter, there are points in life when you should choose to have a strong taste of the one over the other. There is no formula to find the perfect mix for this dose. The best you can do is follow your intuition.
And that’s what I did.
I’ve only just started off, and there’s so much more to learn, and do. I don’t even know if I’ve got what it takes to be a true entrepreneur. And that’s what I’m excited about, the journey, because it’s the greatest joy of all.
And when I document my journey in the years to come, I hope you will read on.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on May 27, 2017.
