People’s Software Company

I’ve been rushing all summer-rushing to build a team, rushing to get product, rushing to figure out what our core values to users was and what kind of market share we could hope for if we executed well. I spent a lot of time looking at the other TechStars companies, many of whom had been together for anywhere from eight months to more than a year before the program, and wondering how we could catch up.

Now, 10 days before the program ends, I’ve realized that what I actually should be doing isn’t trying to push us along, but embracing just how new we are. We will never be this new again, and that’s actually something to savor, as in fact,  as we go forward it’s just going to accelerate even more. For two people who didn’t have a company when they walked in on May 23rd (except on a piece of paper), we’ve crafted a product vision, the beginnings of a team and live code that will soon (finally) be releasing. As much as I’ve felt frustration and impatience as I’ve wished we could go faster, I now see we’ve built the start of something worth doing.

The next step, which is happening now, slowly, is to start getting our apps out into the market; we’ll learn alot from how people use them and what they tell us. Of course, this means we have to accept that we’re going to completely suck sometimes, and hopefully provide some great unique value other times. Isn’t this true of just about any small company at their inception?

TechStars has been a great experience, both as an accelerator of growth and a humbling reminder of all the things I don’t know, or learned the hard way (and had to do over). Being with so many energetic, passionate entrepreneurs and experienced and execs who want to help us has been wonderful–but this is the running start that leads, of course, to being completely only your own. And new. At least for the moment.