"Do not discard the passion that gives you inner peace" - Rachel Ebuh
I realized today that it's been well over a decade that I've been working on startups. I started young and then also went "official" during my teens.
What started with flipping electronic devices at the age of 12/13, soon turned into a online business a few years later around 2012. Back then I made a new friend and at time it seemed like a good idea to join him, because he did seem like the "right person" for the job.
After testing the waters, a year later we were off, with a good start and some quick steady progress.
Unfortunately, we both were a bad judge of character, not knowing who we should trust and who we shouldn't. So, during our second year we got he wrong type of investor involved and end up getting scammed.
A year after that little experience we decided to move to a different sector with a bigger team, with a few extra members, and most of them were friends. This time it was the entertainment sector, and we were off to great start. We weren't the first in that sector, but soon enough we surely were competing for first place in just a matter of 2 years. Whereas every other "competitor" joined the game 3 to 5 years prior to us.
Yet again, this time the lack of synergy and understanding led this startup towards failure. We were a juvenile bunch, we did have the correct mindset and all, we had a fairly capable team, but we just didn't have the confidence and trust we should've had for each other.
Even though every one of those startups had potential, holding the ability to fill a huge gap in the countless sectors of our country; it was mostly greed, ego, and misdirection that led every one of those operations towards failure.
ᴵᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵒᵛᵉʳᵃˡˡ ᶜᵒⁿᵗᵉⁿᵗ ᵃʳᵉ ᵐʸ ᵒʷⁿ ᵘⁿˡᵉˢˢ ᶦᵗ'ˢ ᵐᵉⁿᵗᶦᵒⁿᵉᵈ
Fast forward by 5 years, after burying every one of those startups in the past back in 2018, now I find myself working on another startup.
I remember back then I said that I won't be working on anymore startups, not anytime soon at least, but here I am, working on a startup that caters to a niche market, a very small market.
Well, Whaddayaknow? Back to square one, I guess.
However, I believe this team is the best one I've worked with so far. We are nowhere near perfect, but there's hunger, and I see progress too.
I guess I'm not made for any other sector or type of work, to lead and to solve problems in businesses is what I was meant to do. That's been my role in most of these startups and companies, to lead and to guide, to talk some sense, when I notice any type of non-sense. Because it's easy to lose yourself when a wave of euphoria and emotions hit; yes, a big loss can break you, but sometimes a massive win can have the same effect. When you feel as if you're the smartest person in the room and on top of the world, such an attitude usually leads you off track, resulting in a loss of focus.
You have to remain humble and you have to be ready to face more hurdles.
Life is a game of obstacles, you know, 8 out 10 times there will be disruptions, and when you take care of those, you can take home your win, but you better be ready for more.
Since I'm "wiser" and a fairly good judge of character now, I can see this team being successful. We've got what it takes to solve problems and to tackle adverse situations head on, and the most important part of all, we trust and respect each other. We don't mind saying it as it is, absolutely no need to beat around the bush, and I say that's way better than sugar coating it.
We've all got something to add, everyone does, but it takes the right team and attitude to bring out the best from within. Trust and understanding is needed, to identify each other's strengths and weaknesses, to have faith in one another, and in the process.
As we are now in the early stages things are all falling into place with ease, but there will be hurdles; yet, I believe we'll overcome them all.
This may just be "the one", I can feel it.