5 Months Since Snapkit Beta Launch - Facing My Biggest Fear

Why was asking acquaintances to review my service so scary? A 5-month founder's retrospective on overcoming embarrassment and fear to execute the most painful task.

entrepreneurship

startup

retrospective

Facts (What happened?)#

Proposed collaboration with a company that seemed to have business synergy and had an in-person meeting. Couldn't proceed at full speed due to holidays, but scheduled another meeting after the break.

Requested Snapkit review from a former colleague still at M company (my first workplace) and had a call. Promised to send the service introduction after the holidays.

Requested service adoption review from another acquaintance. Was informed that the development team leader is American, so an English service introduction is needed. Will send this after the holidays too.

Feeling (What did I feel?)#

While I've had occasional collaboration meetings as a developer, this was my first time meeting with another company as a CEO, which felt new. I was grateful just for them agreeing to meet.

I requested service adoption reviews from acquaintances. Perhaps my reputation from my corporate days was decent, as everyone tried to help - I'm so grateful. I felt a growing desire not to disappoint them. Let go of pride and appearances - just think about making the business successful.

Finding (What did I learn and want to remember?)#

I learned after starting the business how important it is to build trust with colleagues in some way. When I was an employee, perhaps they viewed me positively because I treated it like 'my company' even though I was just staff. Thanks to the trust built then, some people help based on trusting me as a person rather than what I'm trying to do. These people are truly precious to me. I'm learning how important trust is.

If it doesn't sell, it's not a product. Products that don't sell are really more like products made for personal use. Now I focus more on sales and marketing than development. If someone wants to buy, I'll listen to their feedback and further improve the product. Not knowing this cost me weeks, no, months. Six years of corporate work habits mean this mindset hasn't fully settled yet.

The trial and error I've already experienced and will experience has likely been experienced by other founders. Good books have the answers. Reading "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" and "The Minimalist Entrepreneur" gives me many insights.

Feedback (What feedback did I receive after executing action items?)#

"This week, let me do what's most painful for me"#

This was last week's action item.

It was: "Requesting service reviews from acquaintances' companies"

I kept postponing it out of embarrassment, thinking my service wasn't complete enough yet. I quit my job boldly to start a business, but feared others might think 'Is this all?' Proposing collaboration with other companies was the same.

Books and people around me told me to turn acquaintances into customers first. I kept postponing execution because I wasn't inclined to. When I actually reached out, they were glad to hear from me and actually wanted to help.

At a company, if I didn't want to do something, they'd give me different work or try to adjust it. That habit might still remain. Doing business means meeting new people, in new places, doing things for the first time, doing painful things I was reluctant to do. I'm scheduled for another round of reality checks after the holidays. It'll be painful again, but it's the path I chose. What can I do but overcome it.

Finishing this week, a passage from "Demian" came to mind.

The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever will be born must destroy a world.