One Ending, New Beginnings

Friday was my last day of work. I was given 2 months notice and I thought towards the end that the day would never come. The last 7.5 years in a start-up definitely was a roller coaster ride.

My life changed dramatically through my experience, due to the people I met (employees, investors, customers, other entrepreneurs and vendors), the things I did (help create business plans, structure deals, recruit, prepare contracts) and the lessons I learned.

I just read a post by Roger Ehrenberg about the ending of Monitor110 that is very intriguing. The author tried to summarize the main points of his experience:

The Seven Deadly Sins

While we certainly made more than seven mistakes during the nearly four-year life of Monitor110, I think these top the list.

The lack of a single, "the buck stops here" leader until too late in the game
No separation between the technology organization and the product organization
Too much PR, too early
Too much money
Not close enough to the customer
Slow to adapt to market reality
Disagreement on strategy both within the Company and with the Board

I really appreciate the author's blog. It helped me bring closure to my experience and makes me think so much about my past few years.

I'm going to create something else, start my own company (probably without investors). I'm still in the planning stages, but who knows what I'll end up creating.

Start-ups

Another great post by Guy Kawasaki. His post is entitled, "Everything you should know about me as an entrepreneur you could learn from my OB/GYN." He got an e-mail pitch from an entrepreneur. You should go read it. After living with a start-up the last 7 years and having my kids grow up taller than me now, I can appreciate the entrepreneur's comment. I just wished I was a few years younger now to start my next venture experience.

My favorite line is the end, "Children are the ultimate startup. And when they leave for college, it’s their IPO. And when they get married, it’s an M & A deal. And like most startups, these milestones usually take longer and cost more than you predicted. Parental success rates, however, are much better than even the best (seed-stage) venture capitalist’s."