| This is what I aspire to. Thanks for showing this is possible! It's something that I've been thinking about a lot lately, especially after reading "A company of one". That it's possible to make a good living with friends and not be the next X or Y hypergrowth company. For some context, I am currently working for one of the hottest startups in the world (not hyperbole, we have the metrics to back it up), and I have been here long enough to remember when we could all fit in a small room. The first 2 years were a dream, this last year has been pretty terrible, and coincidently, is when we started our crazy rapid growth. It went from a place where you felt like you were working with your friends, and could have great conversations/humour and learn, to politics, arguments, poorly defined scopes on projects, process for the sake of process, or no process at all, but not knowing whom to ask, and not being empowered enough to sort it out yourself. I realized, and I think I kind of knew this previously, that my happiest work was when I was working with a small team of smart people who could relate to each other. Basically, going to work with my friends. I think after the IPO, it will be time to leave and find/start something similar to what you are doing. |
It's easy to justify putting in extra hard work now if you tell yourself that the struggle is only temporary. That once this success materializes, you can relax, take it easy and just "work for fun". Some people pull that off.
Ultimately though, we are all human, and one thing humans do is get addicted to the adrenaline. Particularly if we come out having accomplished something after the struggle. Particularly those of us who have this innate drive to push the envelope. You might relax for a little while afterwards and savor the fruits of your labor, but soon you'll get restless. You'll yearn for the feeling of acute focus, that rush of adrenaline and that state of being on top of the world when things come together and you pull off something big.
This is what drives many already accomplished people to continue. It is a self fulfilling prophecy as well, because it takes this sort of drive to get there in the first place, and it's the same drive that prevents your from ever stopping. Take Musk for example. He has generational wealth. He could sit back, put his money in some safe assets and neither him nor the following 10 generations would have to ever work in their life again. Bezos could have long ago retired and just enjoyed his wealth. The thing is, once you have FU$, it all becomes a game. You no longer need the money, but you still want the feeling of success and prove to yourself that you can do well.
You should take care of that drive. Don't let it consume you. It should be a tool, a means to an end, not the thing that defines you wholly.