Be the wheel.

Corporate life has it’s comforts. I enjoyed them during my time at Medtronic. Many people do.

Yet there is a trade-off: those comforts can become overshadowed by the feeling of being a mere cog in a wheel.

In a corporation, you’re part of a large organization designed to drive the business forward. But this means that individual progress can be slow and your responsibilities are usually quite limited and highly focused on just one part of the system.

Bureaucracy, which can’t be avoided even in the best corporate cultures, slows both implementation and reward.

Many people can find comfort in being a cog in a larger wheel. It’s predictable, familiar and can appear to be low-risk. For others, however, being a cog is stifling or even unbearable. This triggers people to leave the system, seeking the freedom of building their own wheel and the speed at which you can work.

Entrepreneurial life inside a startup is all about building the wheel – from choosing a talented team to creating a culture that powers the wheel. The process can move quickly, and the road can be bumpy, but there’s an ability to cover more ground. The wide-open space is scary, but also liberating and fun – and the learning is unlimited.

Recently, at the J.P. Morgan Annual Healthcare Conference in San Francisco (where the roads really are steep and curvy), I found myself reflecting on how I’ve changed my role in relation to the wheel. I stepped off the predictability and comfort of the corporate treadmill and embraced the challenging incline of a startup. At times, I’ve wondered whether the path I’ve chosen might be too steep and curvy. But there have been other times during the journey when I’ve stopped to catch my breath and enjoy the view. Being in San Francisco with other entrepreneurs was one of those times. I felt exhilarated and encouraged by the ground we have covered at Abilitech.

Last year we received great recognition as the winner of the Minnesota Cup Grand Prize and top woman-led startup; winner of the TEKNE Award for Innovation; and recognition as a Top 20 Medical Device startup. This year we have continued to achieve new goals: our product has passed important testing milestones as we prepare for commercialization. Last week our company moved from offices that we shared with our engineering firm (often noisy and crowded) into our own beautiful and quiet office with space to grow. As we “wheel-in” to 2020, exciting times are ahead for Abilitech and the patients we serve!

If you’ve become increasingly aware of the limits of your work within a large system, maybe it’s time to break free and test your skills at wheel-building. Some corporate comforts may fall by the wayside, but the road ahead will bring you – and others impacted by your new company -- rewards you never would have realized before.

Onward and upward - Let’s GO!!!