What I have learned since I quit working for Red Bull.
This was originally written for GroupY (hi Mark!) in December of 2015, a little over a year ago. Most of the concepts I discuss have remained, although I am much more settled in the ‘uncertainty’ today versus when this was written. I was humbled to learn this article became GroupY’s most successful post of the year within 36 hours of going live. It seems to have struck a nerve and resonated with many people working in action sports & youth culture who perhaps are thinking of making the transition to entrepreneurship or tech. I felt it appropriate to share here as well, I hope you enjoy.
12 months ago I left Red Bull. I had a great salary, amazing mentors, large expense account & insane perks. Leading marketing for Red Bull in Los Angeles & Orange County is just like you’d expect it: massive parties, intense meetings, huge events, in the mix with celebrities, musicians, artists & athletes. You command a certain level of respect, not because of who you are as an individual, but because of what you represent. There is no denying, that in any major city in the world, the Red Bull brand speaks volumes — allowing you to align with people you never would have had the opportunity to beforehand.
I left all of this behind to co-found a technology start up. To pursue a dream I have had since I was young. I had always feared that when I was older, I would be one of those people who always “talked” about building their own business, but never had the balls to do it. It sounds silly, but fear motivated me to make the final plunge — it was one of the hardest, yet best decisions I have made to date in my life. As I reflect on the past year, I wanted to share with you some of the insights & things I have learned on my short journey thus far.
8 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED THIS YEAR:
1.) GET COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE
For the first few months I couldn’t sleep very well. Entrepreneurship is really nothing like working as an employee. I assumed I was OK with the idea that the future is not guaranteed. I was not. It took me months to be comfortable with uncertainty, to trust that the answers will come, as long as we stay the course. The answers always do come — at least thus far –and trusting your vision in the face of adversity is hard, but you have to be comfortable with it to succeed.
2.) A PLAN IS JUST THAT, A PLAN — PREPARE TO PIVOT.
My background at Red Bull was extremely planning heavy. In a large, corporate structure, where budgets are allocated from the top down, and there is a long history of business operations you need a scaleable system for planning. Those skills are valuable, but not very transferrable to a pre-revenue startup. A startup is much more scrappy. The moment you launch, you will begin to find flaws in your thinking: something doesn’t scale as you intended, human flaws in the team, the market isn’t reacting how you thought. You need to be prepared to throw away the original plan & pivot the business towards success — or face the impending doom of failure.
3.) KILL YOUR BABIES.
As you are fighting to gain traction, you need to be OK with killing your ideas. At Red Bull, I was able to sell concepts internally, get them funded and spin the results so the majority of the time they looked more successful than they actually were. At Grin, if I do this, it will be catastrophic. You need to let data drive the decisions and if something, a product or feature, isn’t delivering against your key internal metrics — you need to kill it. Being OK with admitting something failed, and admitting fast, so you can move on is key to gaining meaningful traction. Unfortunately, this doesn’t really apply in a corporate environment as often.
4.) FRIENDS, FAMILY & INVESTORS MONEY — RAISES THE STAKES.
There is a weird cloak of security when you’re within a corporate structure — the money doesn’t seem as real. In our business, we’ve passionately convinced people we love & trust, friends, family & investors to believe in our vision of the future in mobile. These people have financially committed to this vision and are expecting us to deliver results. This absolutely raises the stakes because there is emotion involved. It also sets the framework for rigorous decision making & fast, results-driven learning. Which is good for business
5.) FORCE YOURSELF TO REMAIN SOCIAL.
In a work environment where you have tons of peers — at a fun lifestyle brand — it’s easy to be social. The conversations remain light-hearted & fun. I recall 6 months ago, coming back from silicon valley after a very intense meeting with one of our advisors and having to go to a birthday party at a bar. It was the last thing I wanted to do — no one could understand what was going through my head — besides my co-founder Brian, but we went anyways. The conversations were hard to hold as I thought about things like valuation, runway & capital. After some time I got into the groove, forgot about it, had fun and woke up more refreshed than I had been in weeks. You have to force yourself to remain active & social because it doesn’t fall into your lap anymore.
6.) MAKE TIME FOR PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT.
As an entrepreneur it is all consuming. Your business is on your mind constantly. You have to make a conscious effort to turn your phone off & be present with the ones you love. My girlfriend has been amazing, believing in what we’re doing & supporting through the process. It is not fair for me to have my mind elsewhere when she (and my family) need me for something. Making sure you build in time to decompress & connect with loved ones is critical to keeping everything else grounded.
7.) TWO EMOTIONS: EUPHORIA & TERROR
Ben Horowitz says startup founders only ever experience two emotions: euphoria & terror. When we heard this, Brian and I laughed, because it is true. The highs are crazy high, reaching a key milestone, having an off-the charts revenue week, securing much needed capital. But the lows are insanely low. There was a few month period where I did not want to talk to anyone, about anything. My business was pivoting, we were having insane product problems and it felt like we were on a path-to-fail — pure terror. We have since recovered, but the saying remains true. There are really only two emotions: euphoria & terror, highs & lows — prepare for both.
8.) LASTLY: NOTHING CAN REPLACE BEING ON THE FIELD.
It is easy to sit in the stands and criticize people who are playing the game. To point fingers, make comments and believe that you could do it better. It is easy to be a fan, positive or negative. There is no risk when you are watching. Nothing is on the line. On this same note, you can practice day & night, plan for how you will respond and what you will do when the game starts. But the reality is: nothing will replace getting off the stands, suiting up and getting in the game. Once you’re in the game, you have to react, you have to fight, you have to inch your way to victory. Making decisions in real-time that will affect the outcome. There is no feeling like it in the world. It is filled with adrenaline, terror, euphoria and it is fun as hell.
Time will tell where we ultimately end up and what our impact on the world will be. That’s the fun of the entire process, it’s hard and it’s up to nobody else, besides us. I do know that the learning will not stop, I’ve learned more the last 12 months than the 10 years prior. As long as we keep faith, keep our relationships strong, believe that impossible is nothing & work hard — we’ll end up in a good place.
