I’ve always felt like a misfit in corporate life. After the Army, arguably the biggest corporation in the world, the idea of jumping into another hierarchy never sat right with me. I’d rather build something from scratch, solve real problems I experience in business, and build cool shit that makes people’s lives better.
But entrepreneurship is insane. Working with limited resources. Typically your own. Sacrificing a steady paycheck today for the hope of success later. Creating a story and then selling it to a world that doesn’t believe in it yet, while putting your name and reputation behind it. It’s a rough, lonely road.
I’ve leaned into the military angle as part of my founder story, but Mike’s right. The benefits are limiting, and the risks of pigeonholing yourself are real, both publicly and more dangerously in your own head. This piece hit me at exactly the right moment. A moment of grind. A moment of weakness. That moment founders know. Wondering if all the time and sacrifice will ever be validated.
It lifted me up, changed my perspective at the perfect moment, and gave me the motivation I needed to keep punching. Founder to founder, thanks Mike.
This piece does a great job calling Vets in with empathy and understanding, while also being incredibly humbling and tough to face. I saw myself in the ego/resume part and I don’t love that lol. Thank you for holding up a mirror.
I thought this was a great piece, particularly the double edged sword of how what’s learned in the military can propel us or hold us back. I wasn’t Spec Ops, but I’ve had my fair share of “no fail” missions, which I think will help me in the very beginning, but that same mentality will hold me back as the company starts gaining traction and I need more folks to reach the next level. Thanks for taking the time to write this!
Wow. There is A LOT to digest from this piece. Impressive body of work you have put together and shared out to the veteran entrepreneur community. As a veteran entrepreneur, now onto my second venture after exiting my first, a lot here resonates with me. The below section in particular is helpful to always keep top of mind. It is easy to just start chasing sales, but I always told my employees you can put effort into a sale that generates $100 or $10,000 but you only have a limited amount of time, so you need to focus your efforts.
"You don’t want to boil the ocean, spreading yourself too thin by trying to do too much too soon. You need to focus your efforts where it matters most. This includes selecting a beachhead category and customer—a narrowly defined, high-leverage segment where you establish dominance first."
Wow lots of great stuff in here. I'm bookmarking for reference later.
I’ve always felt like a misfit in corporate life. After the Army, arguably the biggest corporation in the world, the idea of jumping into another hierarchy never sat right with me. I’d rather build something from scratch, solve real problems I experience in business, and build cool shit that makes people’s lives better.
But entrepreneurship is insane. Working with limited resources. Typically your own. Sacrificing a steady paycheck today for the hope of success later. Creating a story and then selling it to a world that doesn’t believe in it yet, while putting your name and reputation behind it. It’s a rough, lonely road.
I’ve leaned into the military angle as part of my founder story, but Mike’s right. The benefits are limiting, and the risks of pigeonholing yourself are real, both publicly and more dangerously in your own head. This piece hit me at exactly the right moment. A moment of grind. A moment of weakness. That moment founders know. Wondering if all the time and sacrifice will ever be validated.
It lifted me up, changed my perspective at the perfect moment, and gave me the motivation I needed to keep punching. Founder to founder, thanks Mike.
This piece does a great job calling Vets in with empathy and understanding, while also being incredibly humbling and tough to face. I saw myself in the ego/resume part and I don’t love that lol. Thank you for holding up a mirror.
I thought this was a great piece, particularly the double edged sword of how what’s learned in the military can propel us or hold us back. I wasn’t Spec Ops, but I’ve had my fair share of “no fail” missions, which I think will help me in the very beginning, but that same mentality will hold me back as the company starts gaining traction and I need more folks to reach the next level. Thanks for taking the time to write this!
Wow. There is A LOT to digest from this piece. Impressive body of work you have put together and shared out to the veteran entrepreneur community. As a veteran entrepreneur, now onto my second venture after exiting my first, a lot here resonates with me. The below section in particular is helpful to always keep top of mind. It is easy to just start chasing sales, but I always told my employees you can put effort into a sale that generates $100 or $10,000 but you only have a limited amount of time, so you need to focus your efforts.
"You don’t want to boil the ocean, spreading yourself too thin by trying to do too much too soon. You need to focus your efforts where it matters most. This includes selecting a beachhead category and customer—a narrowly defined, high-leverage segment where you establish dominance first."