![]() ![]() Instead of thinking of how quickly you can quit your job, think about how long you can keep your job and push your startup forward. Keeping your personal coffers full is not just a hedge against failure-it’s a financing strategy that ensures your startup has the longevity it needs to develop. While holding onto your active income could hold you back from more time that you would want to put into the business-It’ll also protect you while making some of the most critical early stage decisions of your company. The moment you compound that vulnerability in your business by also being vulnerable in your personal financial life-It gets a thousand times worse. It’s why they get loaded up in personal debt, take horrible terms from investors, and go into a fight-or-flight desperation mode.Īll of this leads to really bad decisions. The first 24 months of a startup leave the Founders in an incredibly vulnerable position. The other effect of cutting off that lifeline is the amount of vulnerability it creates. The moment you cut off the oxygen supply to that lifeline, you’re in serious trouble. ![]() They have the freedom to expand, contract, and expand again without having to worry about whether they will have a bed to sleep in. It’s why so many entrepreneurs start in college, when they don’t have to worry about other bills. The ability to keep the Founders moving while the business takes longer to develop is critical. It may not be the ideal situation, but realistically you could keep your feet moving. If you were infinitely rich (or lived with your parents, which has the same effect) you could continue to work on your startup forever-even if it was just you. Startups fail when the Founder runs out of money. Startups don’t fail when the Companyruns out of money. But, no one ever seems to talk about how much runway YOU have personally. You Need Personal RunwayĮveryone talks about how much “runway” your startup has, which is a not-so-fancy term for how much longer you can stay in business before going broke. However-If you recall-this also involves the part where you get ceremoniously beheaded which (let’s face it) kinda-sorta ruins the whole celebration.īefore you quit your job and get all pumped to be the Founder of a new startup that writes checks instead of cashing them-let me give you a few things to think about. – Getting Your Idea Going: There is no perfect idea – Getting Your Idea Going: Popular Excuses for Not Starting –Getting Your Idea Going: When to Jump ShipĮvery entrepreneur daydreams about walking into their boss’s office to proclaim: “I quit!”-and then loudly declaring “Freedom!” a la WIlliam Wallace in Braveheart. Don’t miss out! Check out the previous editions here: ![]()
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