July 2020
Are you hirable after trying to be an entrepreneur? The better question to ask is, do we want to be hirable after trying to be an entrepreneur.
When we’re at the crossroad of continuing the entrepreneurship journey or going back to the corporate world, it’s an internal battle.
On the one hand, it’s the dreams and aspirations of making a difference in the world. On the other, it’s the pressure of life from paying bills to having a family, and the feeling of stagnation that prevents us from making the most optimal decisions. When do we know to continue the chase; when do we know that maybe we’re just taking a detour in life?
At this junction, we feel alone. It seems that everyone continues to share progress, or we only hear of failure stories once we witness success. But at the moment of indecision, it is filled with fear and avoidance of the world.
I spent my 2019 building a startup. Despite limited success, I absolutely loved it. I loved the commitment, the grind, and didn’t mind so much the instability, the rejections and the failures. It’s less about taking control of our time, but more about finding meaning in what we do and inspiring others along the ride.
I paused the startup earlier this year due to unforeseen circumstances. Given the current climate, I was faced with the decision of pivoting opportunistically to something I no longer believe in, building on a completely new idea, or finding a job/joining a team where I can learn the most.
There are times when I would mindlessly apply to jobs, only to question afterwards my why. I notice myself saying no to opportunities while refusing to remove the entrepreneurship experience from my resume, something that inherently defines who I am but serves little value to the vast majority of employers.
I tried coming up with new ideas that align with my beliefs and the direction I want to take in life. But at some point, explorations can only go so far; indecision becomes a decision, in which if the goal is to optimize learning and impact, continuing to explore as opposed to committing is destructive.
As Ed Catmull wrote about in his journey building Pixar, “As weeks go by, morale plummets, and failure becomes self-fulfilling.”
A little more than a year ago, I was sitting by the canals of Copenhagen, with the kind of confidence of wanting to build something that would change the world.
It was this calling that we can do so much more if only we set our mind to it. I remember in those moments I couldn’t wait to start building. I was afraid that if I didn’t build it that someone else will. That was when I cut my travels short and flew back to San Francisco.
A lot of us grew up with the American Dream — achieving the status of Elon Musk or Steve Jobs is somehow perceived as more plausible nowadays when in fact it is just as difficult as a peasant arising to the French aristocracy (according to Alain de Botton). Yet, we choose to believe in dictating our own destiny.
Nowadays, I’ve changed. Entrepreneurship is an invaluable humbling experience. I noticed I was running at full speed with so many blind spots. There is power to create under the shadow of uncertainty, yet it is ever more important to realize one’s limitations.
I’ve spent my life engaging in things “full time” — full time student, employee, full time traveling, then building a company. During the past few months, it never felt right without having something full time to pursue. Perhaps, the best way to summarize how I’ve spent time recently is collaborating with amazing people on projects that are aligned with my personal mission statement (including vibe and treehouse module) along with researching and learning in the form of putting together a newsletter. I’m not sure where these projects will lead; they’re there to convince myself that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I want to hear the stories of the in-between struggles, the time before having built and exited a company, and to learn from these stories.
One’s strength does not lie in how much we rise, but how we rise after we fall.
Let’s grab a virtual coffee @cocobliu
