The biggest thing I’ve learned since quitting my corporate job three years ago is that startups are a complete grind. The brief glitz and glamour of a product launch, press release, or a funding announcement stands in stark contrast to what it is actually like to be in a startup.
Running low on money, building with no money, begging people to work for free, losing a critical team member, getting attacked by hackers, releasing something that falls flat, fighting with your co-founder, meeting your first VC, being told you’re wasting your time, realizing every decent domain name was already bought, getting laughed at, spending the last dollar of friends and family money, trying to outsource something, not getting paid, getting beat by a competitor, not giving up. Me and the writers of this blog understand that because we have and are living it.
The journey is ultimately what startups are all about. The journey must be the reward regardless of success – although success is nice.
Success in a startup doesn't come through raising a big round of funding. Success comes through discovering customers that need your product, executing on that vision, and changing their lives. We want to celebrate those kinds of companies. We love profitable not-funded startups. We're going to write about a lot of you so email me (derek at commonred dot com). They're everywhere. We like funded non-profitable companies too because they grow like crazy and spark excitement and create jobs. Also email me. But making a profit for offering a compelling service is inspiring and a more likely path to a successful journey.
Oh and yeah - we will never sell out. Ever ever ever. I mean, look if you offered me $1B I would consider it, or even $25k I would probably take it, but otherwise we'll never sell. We're like Wikipedia without the beards or creepy people at the top of the pages (we also encourage baldness).
Startup Grind is a daily dose of everything you'll need as a tech entrepreneur or aspiring one; inspiration, education, networking, and news. Most of our writers are names you've never heard of but whose products you have used. This is for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs. Bummer that FEBE doesn't have quite the same ring to it as FUBU.
We'll be using Commonred as a place to meet and learn more about the people surrounding the startup world that we're writing about. We also have local events around the United States and already have thriving communities in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and New York City. Watch a lot of the old meetings here.
Startup Grind is about people rallying together to reach out and help one another. It’s about listening and learning from the successful and failed journeys. It’s about ignoring all conventional wisdom and trusting your gut enough to do something simply because you believe in it.
If these things apply to you, then welcome to the Startup Grind. Come join our community and start adding value to yourself and those around you. Here we go.