You Are Not Your Startup
I hoped one day to make the cover of Fortune—just not for writing an article summarized on that cover as “Lessons from a founder at the crossroads of failure” next to a picture of a unicorpse.
The past four years I’ve been working on a startup that hasn’t worked. Yet.
In between now and “yet”, it’s been the typical rollercoaster. Today Fortune published an essay I wrote on the journey. It begins with this prologue:
Somewhere I heard that a startup doesn’t fail when it fails. It fails when the founders give up.
In this “money is no longer free” market, that begs two questions: When should founders give up? And how should those founders manage their psychology while seeking the answers to such a momentous question?
The piece will be published in print in the February/March 2024 issue of Fortune under the title of “Face to face with failure.” The editor-in-chief at Fortune came up with an alt-title today, spontaneously, which I loved:
You are not your startup.
I asked Alyson if I could steal it. She said sure.
They say entrepreneurship is sometimes theft—”borrowing” ideas from a corner of the present, making them the future, and then taking the credit.
Maybe being a writer is sometimes similar?
In light of all going on in academia, journalism, and AI, maybe too soon…
Proof of theft:
A few ways to get to the article:
on Fortune.com
my LinkedIN post
Alyson’s ex-tweet
I’ve been impressed with the team at Fortune. From Alyson, to the features editor Matt Heimer who suggested the piece, and my recently recruited friend Jason Del Rey, it seems a terrific team.
It would have to be to come up with the term unicorpse.
Your candor and transparency shared in the Fortune article will help so many of us entrepreneurs! And yes, I agree with your parting words "and if you can, and if you should, keep going " Bravo!
Husband, Father, Teacher and Job Creator
1yCongratulations on article. Shoot for cover of SI.
Helping organizations regain organizational effectiveness in the age of hybrid working, while retaining talent
1y... and as if by magic...: https://www.profgalloway.com/quitting-time/
Founder, strategist, writer, ex-academic
1yIconic, as always
App Group Moderator/Peer Specialist @ Marigold Health | MSW Student @ Univ. Michigan
1yThis applies to so much more than start-up land. We often define ourselves based on our achievements above our character. I hope to unlearn this. I have been trying. It does harm to our mental health to believe we are what we do, not who we love and how we treat those we care about. In this world especially, I personally believe that ought to be the true measure of success. Thank you for your writing and openness, as always. You’re leading the way in more ways than one.