#1 - One Month Into the Unknown (4/27/25)
"Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself. It is not far. It is within reach. Perhaps you have been on it since you were born." — Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
Why I'm Starting My Startup Solo
For starters, it isn't my preference. I've heard all the different reasons why starting a startup as a solo founder is a bad idea. For instance:
- The Work Load: Whatever you imagine the difficulty to be with a team, multiplied.
- Investor Preferences: As if fundraising isn't hard enough imagine doing it alone.
- No Alternative Voices: We founders can often be our own worse enemies.
So Why Do It?
It certainly isn't because I want all the equity or control, 100% of nothing is nothing, and control in life is nothing more than an illusion, I simply have no one to start it with.
Challenges I've Faced
- Network: I know hardly anyone in tech or who would even consider building it.
- Willingness: The two I do know aren't willing to take the risk, understandable.
- Persistence: Say I knew someone, would they work persistently toward my vision?
Opportunities I've Discovered
- The Only Real Challenge: Making steady progress through a headwind.
- I Have Support: My people, family or not have been immensely encouraging.
- Fear: At no point have I feared failing, I've only feared not giving it my very best.
The Progress I've Made So Far
Advisors, Socials, Lists, Website, and Product.
- Advisors: Thankfully, the network I do possess has been more than willing to provide me with council giving me their perspectives on my decisions and helping me to refine my approach.
- Socials: Likely the easiest aspect of building the business I've had great fortune in securing all the different aspects of our digital brand including social links and trademarks.
- Lists: Detailed and adaptive lists of target companies, investors, partners, advisors, and employees made using Google Sheets, from which I can track all aspects of my cold outreach.
- Website: While I'm not a web developer, I've taken the time to design and build our website putting in over 6,000 lines of code to ensure a valuable and informative experience for all those who visit.
- Product: Last but not least, I've taken the time to develop the vision, read documentation, and design the technical architecture of our first commercial products, making sure to study customer workflows to ensure they add value.
The Progress to Come
Customer Interviews, MVP Development, Subsidized Pilot Demos, First Contract.
- Customer Interviews: Many founders make the mistake of diving too deeply into complex product development without taking the time to speak with the people the product is meant to be for, I don't intend on making the same mistake.
- MVP Development: Once I've taken the time to ask thoughtful questions to prospective customers I can refine what I've planned to build to ensure that it actually meets their needs and will be valuable to them before I build it.
- Subsidized Pilot Demos: After building the Minimum Viable Product I can reach back out to those who were kind enough to answer my questions and try to set them up with subsidized pilot demos to ensure the product suits their business.
- First Contract: While the first contract can be considered a major milestone I look at it as simply the result of meeting a genuine need for an agreed-upon price, and the prerequisite to any potential success in the pursuit of future business.
Conclusion
I feel as though I've only just begun my journey down this road. But as Mr. Whitman wrote in Leaves of Grass, perhaps I've been on it since I was born. Nonetheless, as my father always told me, Kelly's don't quit, so I look forward to enjoying the ride.
Questions for Reflection
- In a world filled with distractions, some fun others not so much, how can we ensure that we are able to make consistent progress towards our goals?
- Knowing the world's nature what are we willing to sacrifice to enable us to do the things we say we're going to, can you pay that price, would you want to?