startups
Building a startup is building in uncertainty. Creating something that doesn't exist with resources you don't have, solving problems you're still discovering. The pressure is real. The stakes are high. Startups demand everything, time, energy, creativity, mental health, relationships. They test resilience, judgment, and capacity to lead through ambiguity. The work is hard, but growth can be extraordinary. These posts explore what it takes to build a startup, from early stages to scaling.
F*ck founder mode and the strongman archetype
Don't let them tell you that you have to choose. You can (and must) lead with heart and strength.
How to build healthy, helpful co-founder relationships (and recover when things go wrong).
Co-founder relationships can be a rich source of support and resiliency. If yours is not, you are not alone!
Sanity Notes #003 : Your metrics are not your worth.
This is a good year to remember that the top-level metrics of your company are not the measure of your worth as a leader.
What is the CEO's job?
The CEO role is the most-hyped and least understood. Let's get clear on the work at hand.
How to get your leadership team to actually be a team.
An exploration in helping your leaders check their egos at the door and actually work together.
For a Leader: A Leadership Poem (John O'Donohue)
If you are experiencing in your own journey a sense that what got you here will not get you where you need to go, you are not alone.
Comparing our insides to everybody else's outsides
Looking back, I can see that in my earliest days as a founder and CEO I was comparing my insides to everybody else’s outsides. That was not a recipe for success.
How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others (Without Hating Yourself)
Struck with self-loathing every time you hear of someone else's success? You are not alone.
Founder Relationship Problems: The Unspoken Pain of Co-founder Relationships
Cofounder relationships are at the heart of most startup stories. But like most marriages, there’s as much pain and struggle as joy and collaboration. Often more. Why is no one talking about this?
Are You Valuable if You Don't Get Shit Done?
This time of isolation and slowness has me facing a lifelong message I carry: that my value is tied to my productivity. If I work hard and have output to show for it, I matter and deserve to exist. That message no longer serves me. It might not be serving you either.
