The Roller Coaster of Entrepreneurship
I take a deep breath and try to swallow the fact that I’m sitting here with a red pencil and a bunch of excel print outs that I must quality check. For those of you who don’t know, “quality check” means that I must go through all the formulas that excel has created and make sure that they’re all correct. And I have to do this by hand! My co-worker comes in and says that we’re all going to happy hour later tonight. Great, another couple of hours spent drinking and eating my life away so that I can hopefully get a 15% pay-raise once promotion season comes.
I’m standing in line. In a way, we’re all standing in line. I mindlessly follow the person in front of me and go to wherever this path takes me. As long as I keep up with the person in front of me and don’t slow down the people behind me, I can stay on my path without a problem. A mundane existence requires little brain power.
A Roller Coaster Beckons
Like a tower in the sky, the startup life elevates over me, beckoning me to come and ride it. Few people in line seem to notice it; those who do turn away in fear and remain in line. I can see those riding the Startup Life going through vigorous ups and downs. Those who are weak fall off, only to get back in the line.
Fear and uncertainty grip my heart. What happens if I step out of the line? Will I be able to keep my place and come back where I left? The choice is now or never. Waiting any longer in line could potentially brainwash me to the point where I’m comfortable with my meager existence. Slowly, I take a step off the line.
I wait. No one seems to notice. I feel free, liberated, and adventure awaits me.
The First Plunge is Always the Hardest One
Slowly I make my way to the entrance of the startup life. I spend the first few weeks looking for like-minded people who want to ride the startup life with me. 2 people join me, Yu-kai and Jason, and we step into our cart.
My heart starts beating faster and faster as the bars close down on our legs and we commit ourselves to the startup life. I look over to Yu-kai and his bar is closed tightly around his legs; Jason’s is not. His is loose, and I feel that already he is going to bring this ride to a stop.
Click… click… click… we go up the startup life. The beginning of this ride is steep. We can’t seem to get up to the peak with the single cart that we’re riding. Slowly, we slide back to the bottom to see if we can add carts to our starup life and build a stronger team that will enable us to get to the peak of our ride. We recruit 4 other carts: 1 cart of 5 developers and 3 carts full of marketing interns. Delighted and full of energy, we hop back onto the startup life, ready to reach that peak.
Click… click… click… we go up the startup life. As we reach each milestone, we pick up energy and move up faster and faster. I take a look back to see our team. 2 developers have already fallen off and 1 marketing-intern cart lost its grip and plummeted to oblivion. No worries though, the former team members are safe. They easily rejoin the line as if nothing had happened. I take a look to my left and Jason is now gripping his safety bar with all his might. Mine and Yu-kai’s bar is holding us fastly to our cart. I wonder if Jason will survive the imminent plunge that is coming up.
I see it. FD Career is about to be completed and we’re about to launch The peak of the coaster is only a few feet away. Hold on guys, we can do this; if we survive this plunge, we’ll come out victorious and successful. Closer and closer the peak is coming. Inexperienced, I grab onto my bar as well, close my eyes, and scream…
A Traumatic Loss
… silence…
It was my first launch. I throw up on myself because I had never experienced such a vigorous yet exciting trauma to my body and mind. I look behind me - there is only one cart left behind us. In it our 2 developers (Steph and JJ) and 1 marketing intern (Joe). I look to my left - Jason has fallen off. His bar was never fastened tightly; there was no way he could have survived the plunge. Yu-kai is the only one who is still full of energy and wearing a smile on his big panda face.
Is the ride over? Did we make it? Have we succeeded?
We all look ahead only to see that this was only the beginning. The Startup Life doesn’t have just one big drop. I look ahead and I don’t see an end to this ride. The next big plunge is far away and concealed in mist so that I have no idea how big the drop is or if it will be the last one.
Looking ahead at the uncertainty and turmoil, Steph steps off the ride. We hug and embrace him for joining us this far, but his place right now is in line with everyone else. The trauma of the first launch was a lot for him to handle, and understandably so. I threw up on myself for goodness sake! We are now 4: Yu-kai, JJ, Joe, and myself. Two carts, four people. Do we even have the strength to make it up the next launch by ourselves?
Stronger and More Resilient Than Ever
Something has changed. No longer is our cart a dainty little virgin. Our wheels have become more solid, our safety bars have become thicker, and our cart has gained in size and even added a little engine to keep the momentum going. Not only is our cart stronger and more stable now after the first plunge, but we now see a lot of other carts riding parallel to ours. I see the faces of other entrepreneurs who survived their first plunge and how they’re trucking along just as strong as we are. It’s a truly encouraging site and it only fuels my drive to keep pushing harder and harder.
Here it comes again. The launch of death. This time, the ride up to the peak seems a little shorter.
Click… click… click… We go up towards the peak and I can feel that 2 carts fueled by 4 people are more than enough to get us to the peak. Milestone after milestone, we compel the cart to move upwards and release an Alpha of Viralogy. We’re still not at the peak yet, but we are sure gaining momentum and getting to the peak fast.
To my dismay, JJ’s bar has become unlatched! No… you’re our only developer left. If you leave, how will we ever make it to the peak and launch?
It was JJ’s time. His heart is still with us but his body must now go back to the line. We hug and embrace, and watch as he goes back to the line, joining Steph and Jason.
And then there were three.
The Second Plunge Awaits Us
Our cart now inches closer and closer to the launch of Viralogy. Though our momentum has slowed and the speed that we’re approaching the peak is now the pace of a snail, our cart is still fueled by the desire that burns within our hearts. Joe detaches his cart to lose some weight and hops in next to Yu-kai and I. The three amigos; the three muskateers. There’s just something magical about the number 3.
I see it now. Launch is nothing but a short month away. Will our safety bars hold the three of us safely in our cart? How big is the plunge? I’m not sure about what’s in store for us ahead of the mist, but what I do know is that this time I will NOT grip the safety bar and close my eyes like a scared little girl. My arms will go up to the sky and my eyes will be wide open. I will be ready to grab onto Joe or Yu-kai’s hand if they happen to slip off of the cart because there is no way that I will let them plummet to their spiritual deaths.
I can do this. We can do this. No matter how many plunges await us, our cart will only get stronger and stronger and the team will only become more experienced.
1 cart. 3 people.
Will we survive the launch? There’s no doubt in my mind that we will 
Groovy post man.
Keep fighting the good fight.
The fight is good my friend. Yu-kai is battling like crazy up north and I really hope he survives. I’m starting a new internship program next month which should really boost up Future Delivery’s presence online.
How is everything on your side?
I really like the story style that you’re using for this post. I’ve read your other posts, and you seem to take a more teaching approach. I like how this one is more focused on the writing style and trying to engage the reader through a story.
If I had to choose, I would say keep writing in this style. It makes you stand out from the other people who just teach in their blog.
I think one thing you can add is a “teaching” part section during each part of the story. Kind of like bullet points before the next section.
Does that makes sense?
Thanks David. I think I’m going to try and start to create more narrative posts. I want to develop my “creative” writing abilities.
People, if my stories end up sucking, just tell me and I promise I’ll get better with your feedback.
This is a really cute post, and it shows exactly what you went through in an interesting narrative.
We’re in the process of recruiting a good developer as well - they are in high demand! How are you going to go about launching without a developer? Are you looking for one or are you guys just going to work on maintenance?
We have actually been recruiting heavily and have just formed a team of 4 developers that will be finishing Viralogy. The great thing is that our developer pretty much completely finished Viralogy before he left. The things that are left are pretty small in scale and our newly formed team of developers should have no problem finishing our product.
I’m also gathering a new team of marketing interns that will be pushing the product this spring.
Are you currently looking for paid developers? We do have some people on our team that can work on your project. Let me know
Thanks for the offer, but there are surprisingly a lot of people on campus who are willing to develop for free. Some people want startup experience on their resumes, some people just want to help out for a good cause, some people just think it’s fun. Since our new project is pretty simple in terms of development, my partner and I can help code and re-engineer as well.
That’s awesome to hear! If you can do it yourself or for free, more power to you!
I think stepping out of line, thinking outside the box, and taking the ‘plunge’ so to speak, is the hardest part. Is there a right time to stop riding ‘It’s A Small World’ and upgrade to ‘The Tower of Terror’? (Sticking with your roller coaster theme) - for someone like me - working in a ‘corporate’ environment but having an entrepreneurial mindset, I constantly ask myself this question. Do I stick with what I’m doing because it’s secure, it’s safe, it pays the bills - or do I throw caution to the wind and pursue the things I’m really interested in, even if I fail, even if I throw up on myself?
I think this is what a LOT of people in ‘our’ generation go through, or are going through right now. Trying to figure when the right time is to pursue a passion, embark on the path of the startup life, and step outside their ’safe’ zone. I’ve been coming to this theme park my whole life and have always been scared to death of the startup ‘ride’ - when do I face my fears and get on board? There may never be a ‘right’ time, but it’s that tipping point of transition that I keep telling myself I have to make, and WILL make. Sooner, rather than later.
Awesome post - thanks for sharing your story and inspiring me to reflect a little on my own life roller coaster. It’s important for everyone to know that failure is the key to success.
Thanks for the awesome comment Matt. Look, I know that we’re in a recession, but there is no time like the present. I think you’re doing a great thing by working on your entrepreneurial endeavors part time, but I strongly recommend that you set a “time bomb” for yourself. *check out the interview i did w/ Ryan Geist about the time bomb effect
Set yourself a goal: In 6 months, I will leave the corporate world and go full-time on my startup project. And once you set it, stick to it. You have to because you can always say that tomorrow will be a better time to leave, but the more you drag it out, the less likely you’ll hop onto the roller coaster of entrepreneurship.
Come join us my friend
This is such a breath of fresh air. There are so many blogs out there that just teach. All of a sudden everyone has become a “writer.” But you’re different. This post incorporates some real writing skills that made me keep on reading.
This seems like a new style for you from the other comments. Keep writing in this style because I have become an instant fan.
I know you can do it. Keep working hard and you will survive this next plunge.
Thank you so much for your compliments. You’re right, this is the first post in this unique style. I will try hard to maintain the narrative style, and at the same time, provide a platform where all of you will be able to learn about entrepreneurship.
“As the cart begins to reach another peak, the three young entrepreneur’s look at each other. Although they are all speechless while looking at each other, like mind readers, each already knows what the other one is thinking: “Bring it on.”
There are many ways to look at the startup life. The way I look at it, each new day brings us closer to success and further away from failure. All our ideas may not work out like we plan, but that’s life. From our failures we become even more inspired to succeed.
We dream big, but will become even bigger.
Great to have you on the team bud. Now go to wordpress.com and get an avatar so you stop looking like a green monster! hahahah
I’m nervous and excited for you dude. Sounds like a hell of a ride!
You’ve gotta turn this into a book someday. This would be one hell of a gripping first chapter.
You know what, what of my goals is to write a book someday soon. I’m thinking of creating small chapters and releasing it on my blog to really get feedback from you guys
Great post. It’s interesting to get the perspective of an entrepreneur first hand. I’ve been writing on my blog about how social media has given a chance for MBA students to interact with CEO’s, so this is really cool.
Jun-
Nice post. Somehow I missed when you posted it earlier. Good to know that you have posted it again and so, it caught my attention. Now I know why you were saying that it’s good to have a founder who also happens be a developer. Specially in startup company, it’s hard to get a highly-paid extra ordinary developer when company is looking to keep cost down and managing to earn more revenues. I also like your styple of writing- bit different than what you have written before but quite entertaining with good flow of your thoughts. Wondering what start up life had been when you actually thought about having own company and what kinda thought process you guys have been thru! Looks like I just gave you an idea of another great blog post !!
Thanks,
Pritesh
http://twitter.com/mehta1p
Except we now have 10 musketeers!
I like how you repost old gems from the past when you are too busy to write new ones! I would like to see even older ones from 2008!
hah! I’m looking to write a follow up post soon
Its all about getting back up when you get knocked down. Love the passion Jun!
Thanks for your kind words in my blog. I’ve heard about you a couple of times from fellow bloggers, all good stuff
Good luck with Viralogy, I think it’ll be even bigger!:)
Just read this post and got a better understanding of what you said yesterday: How far we have come…
I especially like Joe’s comment above–From our failures we become even more inspired to succeed.
Thanks God, Viralogy is now launching successfully, and I know, the best is yet to come. Maybe there is no end for the Entrepreneurs. We are setting ourselves new height step by step.
keep the good work! Jun, you rock!
I just read this again and it is quite adventurously touching!
This post ended up with the Three Muskateers, but I am glad to say that right now are company is stronger than ever! With the super team of 10, we will be able to accomplish great things together!
Good to be on this ride with you brother. Without you, this will feel like being in an amusing park all by myself, something quite pathetic and dreadful.
Let make our legacy through this.
very inspiring article Jun. i love the caption “A Roller coaster Beckons”… also the line ..’ A mundane existence requires little brain power. I read an article named ‘On Genius’ on the net last year … it talked about Prima Donas of this world. If u google it u shall come across it … The writer believes that all important changes happen in this world who step out of line to make a difference…. i do not only wholeheartedly agree with your philosophy but also love the narrative… very orignal … very inspiring …. i wish you good luck in all your future endeavors !!
A very inspiring article indeed !! … I love the terms : ‘ A mundane existence requires little brain power’… and … ‘A Roller Coaster Beckons’. It reminds me of an article which i read on the net last year named ‘On Genius’. The author spoke about the Prima Donas of this world … According to him all significant changes occurred in this world because of these specially gifted people who stepped out of line and went after what they believed in. And i not only love your philosophy but also your narrative which is so unique and original. I wish you good luck for all your future endeavours which i know will surely be a success provided u march on with the same spirit .. !!