Week 8 @Founder's Program: Adjusting to Change

I often get asked:

• ''Why did you do 2 Masters degrees?''
• ''Why did you apply to Stanford Business School when you already have 2 Masters degrees?''

As the Founder's Program progresses, the more I realise that this might as well be my MBA. Taking into consideration how much I've learnt in the last couple of weeks, I probably don't need to go to Stanford now - haha.

We've had remarkable speakers coming to talk to us at Dogpatch Labs and the last 2 weeks have specifically felt like we are in an MBA Program.

We've had speakers such as:

1. Declan Ryan: Co-Founder and ex-CEO of Ryanair
2. Jon Bradford: Managing Partner at Dynamo Ventures
3. Marc McCabe: General Partner at Nomad Capital
4. Maria McMenamin: Revenue Generation Advisor and Venture Partner

I've found myself listening to the speakers and thinking - ''Wow, where would I have learnt that if I didn't take a leap of faith to join the Founder's Program? I am so grateful to be here''

This for me is a good example of how adjusting to change can help someone grow in ways they did not expect. It's also very rewarding to be in a space where I can easily see just how much I am learning.

Following Week 6's article update, I have been working as a Solo-Founder in the last 2 weeks and that required a high degree of change management. I've adjusted pretty quickly which is important in business, and I am happy with the way things are progressing.

I also just want to share that being an entrepreneur is likely to discourage you from pairing your dinner with wine, or ordering a mimosa for brunch.

It's really nice when you are able to just unwind with a glass of your favourite red wine because you've been working very hard and deserve a little treat. That's what I did last Saturday when I met one of my favourite former colleagues at my favourite restaurant in Dublin - Sidecar at The Westbury (They give you free prosecco as you wait for your order, so of course it's very tempting to indulge)

I had 2 glasses of wine, which meant that the next day, my body felt lethargic and I just wanted to sleep. For context, I have very limited alcohol tolerance, so 2 glasses of wine is actually quite a lot for my body. I had initially hoped to get some personal work done because the weekdays are usually very busy, but now I didn't get to do that as I was quite frankly, feeling tired. I also hoped to write Week 7's article but of course I couldn't do that because I jut wanted to rest.

Why am I sharing this with you?

There's an opportunity cost for maintaining the same lifestyle as one did in the employment world. As an employee, your weekends are yours to spend the way you like, there's no actual ask from your employer to work. It's absolutely okay if you spend both Saturday and Sunday sleeping and watching Netflix.

However, for an early-stage Start-up, you will work on weekends. You will need to come into terms that you can't unwind with a glass of wine because if you do, it will lower your productivity for the following day. Alcohol is also a depressant and the last thing you need is something that can affect your ''good vibes.''

I've made the decision to adjust to change and avoid wine until December 12th when Phase 1 of the Founder's Program completes. It's not the worst thing to live without, just saying that I'm human and I will miss indulging with my friends. I've also had the same discussion with other entrepreneurs who said that they've had to do the same thing. It's something people don't often discuss or publish on LinkedIn, so it's a new realisation for me and I am more than happy to share it so that others can relate.

This week's article is all about adjusting to change and allowing for growth to happen.

Some growths will feel like an MBA program.

Some growths may not feel like they are LinkedIn worthy, i.e. avoiding wine, but it still counts.

We are humans after all and it's important to acknowledge and appreciate all types of growth.