I recently turned 23 (birthday was June 6!) and have incidentally accelerated some of my life goals and plans, somewhat. I have officially left Evernote as of last Friday and plan to strike it out on my own — a six-month challenge to find product/market fit for a startup idea I have, similar to Nathan Barry’s six-month Web App Challenge and in spite of Dan Shipper’s astute “Why are you in such a rush?” post. Moreover, I am encouraged by Paul Graham’s “Do things that don’t scale” post.
My ultimate goal for the past 5-6 years has been to start my own company. I don’t profess to know all there is about product management, startups, entrepreneurship and so forth — in fact, I have yet to finish writing part 2 of how I landed my dream job at Evernote — but am curious how much I can get done on my own, based on what I’ve learned so far and from the wisdom of others.
I am excited, nervous, scared — but overall, curious and determined to hustle as much as I can to make the most of this challenge, in spite of the high risk of failure.
The timing will never be just right. The circumstances will never be completely perfect. As much “experience” you can obtain from great companies, it’s not the same if you’re the one in the driver’s seat. Risk, fear, failure, self-doubt and the inevitable emotional rollercoaster that comes with it — will always be there.
This is what I’ve been waiting for all my life, and now that this opportunity has finally fallen into my lap by its own volition, I am fully embracing it.
My plan is to write a weekly report and monthly review throughout this process.
My challenge begins tomorrow – July 15, 2013 and concludes on January 15, 2014.
Let’s begin.
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