Testing

What I’ve Been Up To

This time a year ago was strange. I was readjusting to a new normal that was blissfully calm, whilst still operating in the throes of the chaos that is existing in the “techsphere”. As the anniversary of moving across the Atlantic approached, my time in America thus far had been anything but smooth sailing. High highs, low lows, much of my own doing. The respite was short lived, December brought a whole other deck of cards, mercilessly re-shuffled. But I never asked myself when I was going to be dealt a favourable hand. The cards are the cards, make of them what you will.

I’ve grown to love re-reading old personal writing. The major events stay with you, but with the passage of time, it’s easy to forget the details you’ve forgotten. I’ve never been one to lament getting older, at this stage in my life, growing is fun. I feel like (for me at least) it’s taken a long time to truly get to know myself. Or maybe what I mean is to acknowledge that I know myself and to get comfortable with who I am. So reflecting on the past, accompanied by my own words from that time, is somewhat of a self-indulgent, self-reflective joy.

Most of my previous writing has been ultra-cathartic, the page and the flowing of words my saviour. The fuel has been pain. Painful experiences, mishaps, misfortune, whatever you want to call it. In a way that’s sort of easy to get out? There’s anger and passion; no shortage of emotion acting as gasoline to furiously tap tap tap, scribble scribble scribble.

This year couldn’t have been more different. Peace, calm, a retreat from said techsphere to pause and reconsider. Don’t get me wrong - challenges too, but the deck of cards for this hand looks different. The game of life continues, and there’s only so much predicting to be done. I’m present. I’m self-assured. And most importantly? I like it.

So as I tentatively begin to write for a shared audience once more, the tone feels different. There’s a new sense of caution. An intentionality, that was previously absent. A curiosity, as to how the next chapters will unfold. Take this as an invitation, please, to read and write with me.

What I’m Thinking About

To begin, I wanted to discuss timing and the oft debated “should I start a business?”.

If there’s one thing Twitter (X, I guess) is still good for, it’s getting barraged with unsolicited advice, inspiration or tropes from folks you don’t want it from. Much of the same regurgitated conversation, every day I see a post or thread in relation to getting started. Some variation of get going, then get good. You’ve got to put in the reps.

And look, here I am to do that myself on the writing front, but when it comes to starting a company, I’m going to suggest first pausing to consider a few things.

As Stevie Cline of Vol 1 Ventures and Highly Regulated wrote about this week, We Can't All Be Founders. Nor should we want to be. Starting a company is really really hard. Creating a successful company? Really really really hard.

Yesterday I listened to Michael Seibel field some questions. A 23-year old gal asked him:

“You started a company when you were my age, I’ve no technical background nor experience in the field I want to build but I have an idea I want to use to help people, what is something you would tell your 23-year old self starting on your journey?”

His answer was simple. It was hard. He started justin.tv (which would later become Twitch) with three technical cofounders and funding from YC - and it was still hard.

The analogy he used was preparing for battle. Everyone is going to bring enthusiasm, but what kind of guns do you have? Successful companies start with advantages. (And it’s still hard!). Without them, it’s not obvious why you should do it. Go get some of those advantages. That might take time, hell, it might take two, three years. But do you really want to show up to battle with no guns?

Having a great idea is not enough. And having motivation and drive is not enough. And the hill I will die on is that all the tenacity in the world is not going to lead you to build a successful company. This time last year I was all gung-ho to launch a new venture and I am so glad I didn’t. I thought I had a stellar idea. I was getting great feedback and interest in early conversations, but I didn’t have any of what I now consider to be fundamental in starting a successful business.

Today, I think you need at least two of these three fundamentals, or “advantages” to launch a successful venture:

Code

Capital

Media

The code: technical chops. The capital: $$$. The media: a platform from which to share. Please substitute code for top notch product in your respective industry if it’s not explicitly tech. I can’t emphasise this enough. A good idea alone is not good enough.

So take the time. Assemble the advantages you will need to get you further than the starting line. And then? Start.

What I’m Enjoying 

The Michael story came from a presentation he gave at SaaStr last month on how to pitch your seed stage start up. I find a lot of pitching advice a waste of time, but this is worth your while. If you’re currently raising, at best, it will be reassuring that you’re doing a good job, at worst, it’ll make you realise you need a total revamp.

My favourite follow on Twitter (X) as of late has been José Pablo. He tweets four image synopses of brands. They are meticulously curated and the design appreciator in me loves passing light-hearted judgement. Colourful joy in the timeline.

Recommended by Ben Artuso of oxen.ai, I’ve been watching some introductory deep learning videos to better understand AI fundamentals from a mathematical perspective. As a biochemist who misses working in science every day, it’s been really fun to join the herd at Oxen every Friday for book club, where we dive into AI research papers. Shoot me a message if you’re curious.

Finally, thank you for being here. It feels good to be back in action and I would greatly appreciate a short note on what you thought of this first “test” as I return to the world of online writing.

Jessica