Do you remember where you were when it happened?
The day the world changed. Forever.
I remember where I was 3 months prior.
After 5 years of iterating through logos, designs, branding, landing pages, developers, apps, websites, payment processors, I finally launched Capture in Dec 2019.
By Jan 2020, I had closed a $10B client, myself. Fully bootstrapped, fully alone.
Now, I had to figure out how to deliver on that contract.
But first, we had to celebrate.
As I’m wont to do, I negotiated a free vacation.
Four Seasons Anguilla to celebrate my 35th birthday.
— Alongside 8 of our amazing friends.
The smile on my face is one of a person who doesn’t yet know what’s coming for him.
Little does he know that 3 months later he would lose his startup, his backup plan, and his life would be totally transformed forever.
Three things
It’s now month 28 since the incident.
We now know it never should have happened the way it did, but it did.
It is what it is. Now it’s on us to move forward.
Since then I’ve made a lot of changes.
At the depths of my financial despair, I reached out to a friend. Her Dad is a serial entrepreneur and was on top of the world, until he wasn’t.
He told me, success in life is only about three things:
Be hungry
Be humble
Be smart about what you do
The third part is the hardest. It’s hard to say “no”.
To friends, to colleagues, to your partner.
Only you know what’s going to make you happy.
Friends, colleagues, partners may have their opinion, but don’t let them dictate your plan. Consider it, but always follow your gut.
You can’t control the future, but you can know you got there by following what you thought was the smartest plan along the way.
Right in-front
Sometimes in life, we go against the wind.
Everything is harder than it should be. Clarity and confidence are more fleeting. Decisions you used to be able to make instantly you now labor over.
We know life isn’t always going to be like this, but while we’re here, it sure feels like it’s never going to end.
This pain. It’s what makes us stronger. The wounds may be still open, but the callouses we’re developing will protect us in the future.
One day we’ll look back and laugh. Wow. Did we really think this mattered?
Did we really think we could change our future by fiddling forever?
…By worrying about that email, that call, that conversation?
The answer has been right in-front of us.
We’re not going against the wind. We’ve got a breeze in our face.
— As we move forward.