Am I A Fraud?
I went to one of Hubspot's inbound events 4 years ago. This specific night was tailored for startup founders with big ideas. I was getting my life going as a business owner myself. And by business owner, I mean I had a couple clients for my digital marketing agency which was a side hustle. SEO and Facebook ad management aren't exactly the disruptive ideas that get you in Forbes 30 Under 30.
After listening to a few presentations, I felt like a fraud from the get. I had a couple Sam Adams and decided to start mixing into the crowd with my buddy. I felt out of my league. Sure, I was working hard at the time and working through some things. I was building a sales process and putting out cringe worthy videos for "marketing" that I knew some people were laughing at. It was this small seed that I wasn't sure was going to come to fruition at all. Was this something that I was going to declare to be a success then fall back on my face? I can picture myself back at home in a dive bar hearing someone ask "how that's giant tech company working out for you?"
I remember one conversation I had with a recent MIT graduate. He had an incredible software/hardware idea that he was building and even closed on some funding. Then he asked me about my idea. "Um, I focus on digital marketing. Facebook ads and some SEO stuff. You know, the standard stuff," as my face was probably red.
This first interaction meant a lot to me and the others that followed. "That's awesome, I've heard a number of successful people get started with something like that. It's a great foundation. What vertical do you focus in?" He continued to ask me a number of questions about my business and how I was executing. He probably knew the answers but I kept having more and more conversations like that.
I recognized that everyone I was chatting with was getting excited talking with me. I felt like the room's new puppy. It's something that I understand well now, I was going through the hardest stage of a bootstrapped startup: starting.
I follow a number of different forums for entrepreneurship, side businesses, startups, etc. A common question that I see so frequently is: when should I quit my job to start this? The people that have taken this leap know very well that a majority of these people will never do it. They probably won't even build something small in their spare time.
I forget the reason why it took me over a year to make a leap of faith. I was waiting for more things to align. I wanted a solid stream of income. But most importantly, I didn't view myself as a "founder." I couldn't see myself as one of those disruptive, innovative types. And it held me back like it does everyone else.
Whenever I hear about someone taking the leap or starting something in their spare time, I'm so interested to hear. I can understand why others were excited to hear my story at that networking event as well. The first year is the hardest and the most exciting at the same time. Trekking into the unknown