A Day In The Life Of A Startup..

This was Tuesday, October 3, 2018.

The alarm goes at 3:30am.. You shake your head in disbelief after only 4 hours sleep from your last email sent as my iPhone dropped on my chest. Annoyed that I have to get up so early but relieved my alarm worked! I would have loved to have flown up the night before and stayed but its too expensive - that’s $100 I can spend on marketing. Wait until I tell you the story of my air bnb I stayed at in Sydney where the key was in a lockbox hanging from the second tree out the front - another day... This day has taken a month of organising and a little bluffing mixed in with a little cajoling - I'm excited!

I dragged myself out of bed, got ready for the day, in my standard khaki pants, nike shoes and polo shirt with a logo I still don’t totally believe in, but I embrace it (I did design it after all!) and give it everything.

I jump in my car for the hour drive to Brisbane airport, the clock has just ticked over 3:58am - I treated myself this time and spent an extra $30 on parking at the terminal - normally I park at the air park which is a 20 minute bus ride away and you have to wait 20 minutes for the shuttle. My sleep was too important...

I drink as much coffee and pastries in the lounge (courtesy of flying so much on Virgin I think I know every flight attendant by name) as I can before leaving on the plane, grabbing a few zz’s on the plane hoping I’m not drooling on my neighbor.. I don't think any flights should be allowed before 7am.

When I land in Melbourne, I scan my emails - always hoping for a great email, dreading another rejection. Take a quick check at the facebook marketing which I’m totally addicted to, I see I’ve spent $8 already in the day but am only paying 40c a click and have a relevancy score of 8 so life is good.

I’d love to Uber to my appointment from the airport but that would be $50 (Melbourne airport is soooooo far away from the city) and Skybus is only $19. So I jump on the bus and squeeze next to a large but pleasant man on the way into the city. When I get off the bus, I look at my trusty google maps to see how far it is to my appointment. It says a 30 minute walk or 3 Kms. I figure I’ve got time so I’ll save the $10Uber and walk there. I see every dollar saved as another visitor to one of my landing pages. I just saved $10 from the Uber which is 20 clicks which is a conversion rate of 3 people... I just gained 3 new ambassador leads by walking... Before you think I totally sacrificed everything I will admit to surrendering and got my Starbucks mocha with extra whipped cream - really bad for me but hell, I’m walking it off.

I arrive half an hour early for my first appointment. I've been doing these pitches for so long I could almost rate corporates waiting areas. I do what I’m now so used to, I hole up in a corner, drag out my laptop and check emails, dream of conquering the universe and quickly check ESPN to remind myself there is a real world out there - go Seahawks!

I go up to the desk of what is one of the largest power companies in Australia and go through the what is now standard registration form on their tablet so you don’t have to talk to real people anymore (this is a shame). I wait for the person to come down and meet me, we haven’t met just spoken on the phone before. as I’m waiting - looking at people, wondering - is it that guy? I hope it's not that guy lol! Funny thing is, another person comes down and asks me if I’m Humphrey - not today (I was tempted to say yes)! My person comes down shortly after and takes me to a table outside their standard cafe in the lobby. This typically isn’t a good sign as if you go to a real conference room its easier to close. But I jump in, pitch my heart out - leave it all on the table. I sweat bullets as I do the demo on my iPad Pro, first time I’ve ever done that but it worked - not that I ever had a doubt lol. The meeting went much better than I thought and I actually think this could work... 2 plus million customers in the same bracket. And we have the same vision - we can really make this work - this could, will be amazing!!! I give it everything and leave hopeful. Together we could really make an impact in Australia :-)

I have 2 hours until my next appointment. Walking again, I go through the local shopping centre - one of the biggest in Australia, looking wistfully at the fancy restaurants before settling on a corner takeaway place that does pizza and water for $12. That’s 1 less ambassador lead but I have to eat... My Applewatch tells me to celebrate that I've closed all 3 rings by 2:30pm. Thats not a good thing, that means I've been up for 12 hours straight and walked 8 kms at a brisk pace - where's my Uber!

I rock up to my next meeting, this is a big 4 bank.. Our 3rd meeting. I’m confident, expectant of something good. The atmosphere feels totally different - suits everywhere, everyone looks stressed, I can almost taste it in the air.. I remember why I quit banking.. I get a guest pass from a real person and proceed up to the 12th floor where I’m entered into a palatial floor of state of the art conference rooms. My person is there, super friendly and chilled - I’m feeling great! We chat for 10 minutes as he waits for someone from Sydney to VC in. The moment she does - the vibe changes. My gut starts to sink... Over the next 75 minutes, I fight and claw and pitch and sell, I justify, I use everything I’ve got, I’m sweating from the effort, I’ve exhausted my repertoire of closes.. Not feeling great but I leave with a follow up action plan.. They love Chirpy and know it will be a massive success but suffer from what I call big company itis. Ie, how many others are using it. Classic chicken and egg every startup goes through... I walk out from there frustrated, disappointed but always hopeful. That’s the trait of us startup people - we always get up, always....

I look at my watch and realize my plane leaves in 60 minutes and I’m 40 minutes from the airport. I have no choice, I dial up an Uber and run across the road, just missing getting hit by a tram, jump in and tell my friendly driver to act like I’m Batman and Gotham is in trouble.

I get to the airport just in time, scurry through, hurl everything I have on the security table, basically emptying my bag as I walk through and run to the gate. They are just about to board, but I still find the time to walk nicely up to the lady at the counter, give her my best smile and ask if there is an exit window available, she says they cost money, I give her my best sad puppy dog look and she squeezes me into the last seat - a nice way to end the day

Sitting on the plane, we take off and I scroll through Virgin Entertainment for something to watch, Deadpool2 - love it! Already seen it though - twice. I should do something worthwhile I tell myself, I notice the guy next to me going through his laptop and he's got 5 emails about managing digital change - soooo glad I'm not him. I eventually find a doco about 3 startups - I’m a sucker for stuff like this.. Well I am a startup so its nice to see some success stories... For the next 75 minutes I watch, laugh, relate and get inspired again. I LOVE stuff like this! That’s what we are doing with Chirpy - watch this space - we will change the world!!!!

The plane lands, and then of course the jetway doesn't work so we have to exit by the back of the plane one row at a time. I walk to my car and jump on a telco with my nz team for the hour drive home. When I get home, I do some more emails, fixate on my what I think is amazing Facebook marketing campaign and dream of my next fun strategy. I always think of Jeremy clarkson - more power - faster! I finish the day inspired, determined and ready for another day, having had some marmite on toast when I get home - followed by a glass or 2 of red wine...

Seriously, I wouldn’t do anything else.. this is the best job in the world... I frigging love being a tech startup - of risking everything every day. It's the best feeling in the world - outside of when I skydived 3 months ago doing a promo video lol.

This was Tuesday, October 2, 2018, a day in the adventure of Chirpy Oldies.

Shaun Mahoney

Shaun Mahoney is the co founder of Chirpy Oldies, an all in one, interactive, fun solution for over 55's to meet new people (it isn't a dating site!), find local fun events, sell stuff on our free classifieds, and save money with our corporate partnerships. Shaun is always the first to say he is part of a dream team of 9 passionate people with a firm goal of changing the lives of over 55's.