first time i got fired

10.08.22

soaking it in after a tough week with coltrane in the background.

🔥

^ usually, i use the fire emoji to mean something good, where someone has done something where they are lighting up their potential. it's like a step towards building momentum. one of my favorite reactions to an update.

this week, is the first time where the emoji is not such an optimistic forward looking thing.

it burns a little differently as i got fired.

after a series of hard conversations with someone i thought would be a future co-founder, he made the full decision on his own that he wanted to be a solo author in what he was building.

if building a startup is like writing a book, then he is seeking a team to execute the outline written and draft set rather than a co-writer and co-editor to test, challenge, and write new things.

and that's not my main m.o.

• i want to experiment to build new things.
• i want to test in hypotheses with data driven feedback loops to see what makes sense
• i want to have a strong collaborative, feedback culture among the team that builds.

so that does not fit his team bill. 18 months of being an advising sounding board, 6 months of direct discussion, and 2 months of trying it out pales in comparison to the lack of awareness of what one wants when building.

self awareness is the path towards truth, especially as a founder, and i respect his conviction in finding what is true for him, even if it surprises me.

while this comes with all the emotions of a break up, namely frustration and disappointment, i've taken time to move through it fully, discuss with founder friends who have been supportive, and start moving forward to explore what's next for me.

i'm grateful this conversation happened sooner rather than later, as i could see it only create a rift that would be larger the more time that went by.

and one by product of hard conversations is the clarity of what i want to build next.

• i know i want to build something that is directly founder first. the first hypothesis between coaches + VCs got too muddled and didn't have enough aligned incentives nor forcing functions. it seemed like a win-win-win but it left out founders.
• i know it needs to be a strong community backing. working and talking with early stage founders, it's a solo journey with little support, especially for first time founders. being alone in building does not have to be lonely, especially as there are those who have been there before as well as those who are there now.
• there needs to be a new way of supporting founders. current support structures are aligned to outside incentives that mix up what makes sense for founders. i've seen ceo coaches take time off when founders needed them most in times of crisis as it's an hourly gig. i've seen investors stop supporting their portfolio founders as it was clear there were lower and lower probability of fund size returns.

putting founders first, feels too simple of an insight to build a foundation on, but it's comforting to have something that simple and straightforward.

i'm definitely inspired by seeing navid + nadeem, founders of tks, put the young people of tks first in everything they do. from session design to team roles and hard annual planning decisions, everything they do is about the innovators.

here's to doing that for founders.

if you're reading this and have had unexpected obstacles in early startup journey, send me a note. i'm especially curious for co-founder splits and how you dealt with it.