koolhead17
Our world exists because we dream.
Our world exists because we believe in making it real.
Our world exists because we live in it, shaping it with every moment.
This is our world—ours to build, ours to create.
We are not here to give up so easily.
We are the ones who thrive, no matter the uncertainties.
So cheer up. The world is ahead of us, waiting to be made into something beautiful.
We humans are different. Over the generations, we have evolved. We have food in abundance. We are dying less from diseases like cholera, measles, and pox. Our meaning of success also changed. It is not just about being wealthy or checking out the wishlist.
As we grow old, our priorities change. We tend to focus more on our inner self rather than externalities. For someone in their 20s, the importance of Instagram likes or attending a rock concert is more meaningful than it was in the 1980s.
Our aspirations, imagination, and hard work take us closer to what success means. At the same time, we have to be thankful for our upbringing and the opportunities we were handed in our platter.
It is easy to give up and complain about everything broken. We barely scratch the surface or take challenges. We give up easily and go bitter.
Our life is about living moment by moment and giving our best. Complaining is not the solution. Otherwise, we would be reading a complaint book, not an autobiography.
You have control over your actions and your life. Why don’t you own it instead of complaining and blaming others?
I know this sounds very anti-sale, especially in SaaS. But if you are building a product with a small total addressable market, be wise and picky when choosing a customer. When there is renewal happening every year and word-to-mouth boosting your product, it matters picking customers by yourself.
We live in a free world. We are not in any shackles. The decisions we make are ours, and so are the repercussions. We are beaming with confidence in youth. We believe in changing the world.
Our determination and arrogance have a thin line and many fall for this trap. With time the treadmill of life brings back to reality to many. It takes years of hard work for something to succeed or make a dent in this universe.
The quick fix or my way or the highway can only take us to little far. Our life is a journey lived moment by moment.
Many call our life a treadmill, like a bot living in it and traversing every day’s defined societal norms. We keep living to fulfill the dreams of our dear ones, we try to make others happy. The journey of life is short, we end up running and running. The expectations of others keep on increasing, we just change the form: from a son to a student to a good father to a good husband to a good employee.
We are a beast within. We are not born to be tamed but the everyday treadmill of life and barrage of expectation leaves us no choice. A few who have circumvented it have become misfits but liberated.
Our life is the moment we live in. It is the sum of every breath we take. Some of us understand this and live rational lives, knowing what we don’t want.
Other kinds of mortals spend their lives thinking about or regretting the past. What to plan for the future comes next. The journey of regret from the past and planning for the future becomes an endless loop. In short, living now and giving the best with what we have never come to them, death comes closer, and they surrender.
Startups survive because of the grit and perseverance of their founders and the culture they foster. Running a startup is like sailing through a tide. Sometimes, the journey becomes difficult, and near-death experiences become everyday occurrences.
Half a dozen companies closed because they grew too fast or founders could not run on frugality. The culture from day one was to build fast and break things. The capital was unlimited.
It was more of a transactional journey that resulted in many of their employees going jobless overnight as market dynamics changed and fundraising started being tough.
After running our company for the last 8 years, this high and low market does not deter us from what we are building because, from day one, we have been frugal, and our culture is about going against the odds. In short, “Go where no man has gone before,” aka Star Trek.
We put labels of good or bad on everyone around us. In reality, we are all different, and due to constraints and limitations while growing up we behave in a certain manner.
I give you three examples below:
Building a startup with limited resources requires hunger in you and your team. That is one key tool to take on your established competitors. Many founders relate hunger to money, and they end up chasing investors. In reality, hunger boils down to having a singular focus for the entire organization. It’s about operating under constraint and self-belief of making big.
As a leader, it becomes more important to be radically open, optimistic, and true to the cause of the organization.