How you deal with turbulence as a founder
A reminder to all the builders that are feeling lost
I’vre in trouble
Lazada layoff
Zenius temporarily shut down
Baidu terminates $3.6bn acquisition of Joyy’s Livestream unit.
(These news are more Asia focus, you can check them out on Google/ TechInAsia)
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All kinds of news happening every day in startups and big boys. Highlighting a few bad news, the startup bubble burst might signal you the time is bad.
How’s that going to change what you do? Should I scale down? Maybe Pivot? Change pricing to go mass? Charge premium for better yield? Or…fold?
You probably don’t have the luxury to sit down and think through a week. You’ll think about it when you commute, then get back to work when a request comes in;
-> Then you read similar news during the break, prompts you to think again, when a happy client says they love your service, you start focusing again, thinking you are doing the right thing;
> Then you see a competitor’s recent accomplishment or receive a harsh comment from a client or public on social media, and you feel like you’re building it wrong.
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Every couple of hours you get into this state where you feel things are foggy and you can’t see a way out. It’s probably….normal
Building a startup is putting yourself to experience a paradox. Everything is seemingly possible and impossible at the same time.
The key is to tell yourself:
“I don’t have to solve everything simultaneously”.
When you are talking to a customer, be there fully with them, and do your best to help them.
Then go back and nag about it being a tough environment when you are with yourself or people you trust.
Then focus on the next thing you want to do, the new feature you promise to build for your best supporter.
When you are anxious, your view gets distorted and the same thing doesn’t seem the same to the usual brilliant you.
Try your best to give it your all, and don’t be fixated on the outcome (especially the bad one). You want a good feedback loop and make quality decisions to improve that.
Then, you keep going, again and again.
