The Mental Fitness – The Founder’s Solitary Journey

The Mental Fitness – The Founder’s Solitary Journey

The initial phase of a first-time founder’s journey is not all rosy. Often, it is a solitary journey! The founder may not know whether they are heading in the right direction. Many times, they are testing all their assumptions, asking “what if?” well in advance, and slowly finding the answers to all their questions before accelerating. (I will discuss product-market fit in one of my later posts.)

A typical day during my early days at ActOnMagic:

• Get up around 6 am
• Short prayer/Arati to Ganesha
• Send kids to school
• Meditate
• Plan the day/Check the account balance
• Go for a walk in the park
• Open the office in HSR
• Run standup meetings
• Follow-ups
• Write blogs
• Speak to customers
• Arrange chai for the team
• Online demos/meetings
• Attend networking events/business development
• Find suitable candidates/interviews
• Analyze Google Analytics
• Develop code
• Pick kids up from school and have them in the conference room to do their homework
• Review what was developed that day
• Post on social media (hoping for likes, retweets, and comments to increase the reach of ActOnMagic)
• Check what the competition is doing
• Eat home lunch and chai
• Power nap
• Some days watch Silicon Valley web series or motivational videos
• Release meaningful features to production (after testing)
• Make announcements
• Find cost-effective ways to perform PR
• Some days, if the office cleaning person didn’t come, clean the office
• Back at home

A founder’s job is very demanding! Having been used to the MNC style of working, where you develop a piece of a product feature and let other team members do their work, is far more relaxing. Founders (startups) work day and night! There were so many rejections, failures, and our assumptions going wrong! Self-doubt! Sometimes, I thought I could have continued in an MNC with a good, secure monthly income. Why? Why? Many sleepless nights! Despite all the hard work, my parents would say I wasn’t working anywhere.

My why was very clear to me: Build a successful product company from India (and help my children to break out of routine traps in life ).   

To navigate through these mood swings, I found that a morning prayer, 15-20 minutes of meditation, and an afternoon power nap were essential for managing stress and maintaining a positive attitude. Additionally, having good friends and mentors in your circle is crucial for staying motivated and moving forward.

See you in the next one! 

Have did you navigate your situation ?