5 Stages of Your Startup Rollercoaster

Hey Bill – Do you want to go play some putt-putt golf, maybe grab some funnel cake on a relaxing afternoon in the summertime? NO, Let’s go on a super violent twisty upside-down rollercoaster instead! That’s kind of how the conversation goes when you decide to start a new business, right?

> "Alexa Play 'Love Rollercoaster' by Ohio Players”

Rollercoaster fits the bill better than “Life Cycle”. It’s not a leisurely stroll on the boardwalk, it’s an angry bucking beast no matter the industry. Startups will hurt your neck.

Product ideation and development are the fun part. You’re still in the womb, it’s all warm and cozy, and finding a market fit once you get out isn’t so bad. It’s like going to 3rd- 4th grade: You have a little bit of confidence and coordination and you’re having a good time out on the playground. Getting the grown-up marketplace to fully understand what you’re all about and pay attention to you, now that’s entirely another story.

Market adoption takes forever and all your patience to make even the slightest dent. You know the stats, they’re daunting: 95% of all new businesses fail; 95% of those never make it to $1m in revenue. (and 98% of those never make it to $10m/sales) I remind myself of these numbers every day, we’re beating the odds.

This is a moment in time blog to remind us of the perseverance, blood, sweat, tears, hours and hours of effort that it takes the make even the “simplest” of business models work. It takes really great people doing extraordinary things along with a ton of luck and 18-hour days to make this go. That point where you can’t count the moving parts on your fingers and toes anymore. Yeah, it's a loopy feeling.

But that’s why we do it. We love the action, the chaos, the startup game.. and in our case the product literally fuels the mission. We have an unfair advantage in the startup world with our Caffeine Gummies.

Our days are longer and more productive than at any other startup.

We’re always focused, and we’re constantly honing the way we caffeinate for any situation. We take pride in the way we share these learnings through our Caffeine Coach program. Natural caffeine is one of the best things on the planet for us and the only reason we’ve forgotten that is because it’s been covered in sugar for so long.

Most people involved in the energy drink and soda business don’t use the products they’re selling, and they surely don’t let their families use them after what they’ve seen internally. Think about that for a moment.

We’re different here. We developed a product for ourselves, use it every day and give it to our loved ones to clean up their caffeine routines. That’s why this works. It’s a clean caffeine movement. That doesn’t happen at most startups. Don’t be that startup. The World needs better stuff.

Our guy Bernie commented that we “birthed a caffeine gummy”, Camille said the same thing in “we made a baby” and JR says it “takes a village to raise the baby”. All independent comments, all bring to light how this startup has grown. Sometimes it seems like the hard part is over after nine months and a long labor, it’s not. It only gets harder and more expensive to find the market fit, same as our own personal life cycles. (anybody raising kids?!)

Credit: https://notes.fundersandfounders.com/

That’s a fun version of what we’re talking about. Our graphic might look like this: Gummy Baby Tunnel (PG Version); then up the tracks?to get“off the ground”; then “Hard Work – We think we can, We think we can…” up the vertical; That weightless moment at the top – no turning back now; then Weeeeeeeeeeeee…..

Today, we’re on the UP! I can hear the tracks click clacking, straining now as we climb higher and higher on this rollercoaster .. I don’t think we’re going to fall back, the tracks should hold, but you never know so you work harder, smarter and faster. “We think we can… We think we can… We think we can… “

We’ll all feel the pinnacle when we get there, it’s a magical weightless moment in time when we get to the top and have the best views. That’s when we hit another gear and the next level of excitement begins. Enjoy the ride. Glad we skipped putt-putt.

JP is …. On his 7th startup, most are here on Linkedin, some weren’t as successful as others, this one is the most fun by far because everyone is involved. Check out recent podcasts with Max; & Eric; Reach out if you’ve tried Punch’d and have suggestions on how to improve your experience. If Punch’d hasn’t changed your life you might be using it wrong.

?