Top 10 Learnings - My first 6 Months as Entrepreneur

If I would have had to guess the top 10 learnings just before I started my personal founder's journey, I probably would have had a pretty good match with what I actually experienced. The difference is: I lived it. And there is no substitute for 'learning by doing' it yourself. So why putting down my top 10 learnings? A few weeks ago, Rob Campbell from R/GA asked me about them. And after he hung up I thought: "I can give a better answer." So, thank you Rob, for your question. Here is now a more structured, thought-through answer. Here are my top 10 learnings so far:

1. SCARCITY BRINGS CLARITY. When I started, I knew that I would not have unlimited resources in terms of time and money to build something. It scared me, it still scares me sometimes. But it scared me the most on my very first day as an entrepreneur. It was a Saturday, I just had gotten a spectacular farewell from my fellow Googlers and here I was, standing in our living room, crying out loud while asking the love of my life - and myself - "What have I done?! What was I even thinking?! Am I insane, or what?! How shall I pay my bills?!" and on I went. I was sobbing, pitying myself about what a lunatic and a dreamer I was. My partner hugged me, said the most comforting words with his calm soothing voice like "It will all fall into place. You will succeed. It is all in you." and gave me a 50 Euro bill. "Just to pay for the coffee meetings you have next week", he said. My partner’s symbolic act made me even more sobbing. Just to be very clear here: I never in my whole life had such a comparatively huge amount of money in my bank account. I saved money for years to make this whole thing happen. Yet, here I was, panicking. Today, I am much more relaxed. I live with the fact, that my money will be running out if I do not make this a success case. And here comes the good part: knowing that without panicking let's me even be more focused on my goal. I have limited time and money, so I have to be creative, have to find unconventional solutions and every step I do, has to be very focused: no distractions, no retail therapy, no procrastination. Just all my energy focused on one clear goal: making this work so that I can create a brand that women love. And also that I can create a company with a warm and open culture where great people love to go to work every single day and where I can be the manager I wish I had - in some of my jobs. I had many great managers of whom I learned a great deal. Their example will have an impact on how I lead. They all have faced the challenge of scarcity and found a solution, and so will I.

2. HIGHER HIGHS AND LOWER LOWS. So if you like to ride the roller coaster, you can have it every single day just by founding your own company. The rush of serotonin is priceless when something great happens - an unexpected call, the possibility to get some time with a business angel, getting mentioned in a business paper - but being stuck and not getting anywhere for days does have the exact opposite effect. If you like routine, stay exactly where you are. If you can stand the frightening and sometimes lasting feeling of how-shall-this-all-work-out-and bring-in-the-money-one-day? then try it out, become an entrepreneur and feel uncomfortably excited every single day.

3. GET YOURSELF A LAWYER. Even if this sounds odd, but you will need one at some point in time and you do not want to look for someone once you really need one. You need another friend at the table, somebody who acts solely in your interest. You want to get to know her and you want to like her (or him). Because you do not want to pay 300 Euros net per hour to somebody whose expertise you might question and or with whom you do not want to hang out. I found 'my' lawyer through a referral from a friend. He is a great guy, loves what he does, gives lectures at the University of Hamburg and is an avid reader. The first time we met we talked about Jonathan Franzen. In the last five minutes of our conversation, he gave me great advice. "Why so hesitant? Do not wait. Start it now. And get yourself a proper business email address. Gmail is fine but if you want to be taken seriously you need to show that you really mean it."

4. “I DON'T HAVE PROBLEMS, I HAVE FRIENDS.” First, I shared my ideas with my friends, former colleagues, and acquaintances. I got great feedback and help from all of YOU. But than it got even better: YOU shared my ideas with your friends, colleagues and acquaintances and I learned a great lesson. Because one thing YOU all do have in common: YOU are all willing to support me in my endeavor whether it is introducing me to somebody I should talk to or giving time for picking your brain. My network is so much bigger than I thought it is. It is so obvious but I did not really think about it before I experienced it to this extent. Most of the time when thinking about 'who could know this or that' I solely thought of my personal network. But I totally underestimated the power of my network and YOUR openness to share YOUR contacts with me. YOU know so many more fantastic people who are willing to give some of their time and expertise because YOU asked them for me. THANK YOU! And when I learned this quote above from "The Black Godfather" - Clarence Avant - it totally resonated with me. (And I highly recommend watching the documentary.)  

5. MONEY WILL COME YOUR WAY. I am not talking about millions here, but there was money coming my way which I had not expected: a delayed tax return, a payout of pension benefits, and even a small reduction in my gas bill made my day. So I am not naive* and I know it would be disastrous to found a company without any money. But I experienced that I got more than I knew. And if you put all your energy behind one goal, you will find the money you need - or the money will find you. Let's see if this hypothesis still holds true in the next six months. *) I mean I am also naive, otherwise, I would not be doing all of this.

6. EVERY CONVERSATION BRINGS ME ONE STEP FURTHER. Even conversations with people I did not like that much or going to events which were rather underwhelming had some value. For instance, I went to a bar camp for female founders. I knew already lots of the shared information there, so I could have left the scene but I also learned about Kleine Prints and its remarkable founder Eva Malawska who later introduced me to her sister Magdalena Fricke from WeAreTheLadies. Two successful entrepreneurs who were willing to share their knowledge and time with me. I am grateful for that. And this is why I go to events here and there, resourcefully though. If I get just one additional learning or get to know one remarkable person, I am happy and I usually leave then going back to my desk working on my core project. So this is not about going to every event there is about entrepreneurship and meeting every person introduced to me. But this is also not about just sitting at my desk but having a good mix of both as it drives value for me and hopefully I can return the favor some time soon.

7. EVERYTHING TAKES TWICE AS MUCH TIME AS I THOUGHT. Something I had to get used to. I like working, I like velocity, I like discipline. I even once owned this nerdy tote bag from Ron Dorff - "Discipline is not a dirty word" - which unfortunately one day decided to leave me. May the new owner treat it with care and love. But with all the commitment to being disciplined, I also have to admit: I am not a machine, so I do not work 80 hours a week anymore. I have done that. Turned out not be healthy for me in the long run. So, being your own pacemaker comes with some challenges. How much work is 'enough' work? Nobody but yourself can answer that question. And you can't because your work is never done. Before I am losing myself here in getting very, very deep - not my strongest ability so far - I am closing with the fact that I would have loved to have gotten more things accomplished by now.

8. IT IS HARDER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. "Having an idea is like waking up. Implementing an idea is like getting up." This is a quote from Oliver Samwer, I once read in the ZEIT. And it could not be more true. We all have great ideas, even those people who say 'I would found a company if I only had a great idea'. Ideas will come to you, once you give your mind some space: a four-week sabbatical, a conference attendance, a longer vacation... Or you approach the perceived lack of ideas in a more systematic way: looking at different industries, crunching some numbers, looking at interesting business models from other countries and here they are: plenty of options. So having an idea is not the problem, but actually committing to implementing it with all the consequences is the harder part here. And it is harder than I thought it would be. I thought it would go faster, maybe it does in general, but not for me. I am as fast as I can be and still feel, I am too slow. Also, I thought there would never be a better time for female founders to found their own company than now, which is true in general, but that does not mean that things for my specific startup go easier. There is just more awareness but that's it so far. Also, hearing from a senior analyst that what I showed her - everything I had been working on for the past months - was not sufficient enough, definitely dragged me down. But does all of this stop me? No. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I am here for the long run.

9. Don't be afraid, because others seem to outrun you. I learned that "timing is everything". So being there at the right time, with the right offering in the right place is crucial. Being scared because another startup is a few months ahead, does not help anybody. The market allows for more than one startup in a specific area. And they might have their own challenges. Staying focused and not getting sidetracked is a better way of spending my time and energy.

10. Has there ever been a top 9 list? I haven't seen one yet. 

Thank you, you really took time to read all of this. You made my day.