What would a year of working on a startup be without experiencing some form of “issue” with my co-founder. As the title of this post reveals I’m now the sole founder of byflock.
During late spring and throughout the summer when day job related commitments made working on byflock and our products tricky I learnt a lot. Not the least when it comes to priorities and setting clear expectations but also with regards to what I wanted. I was at times very frustrated and annoyed with the situation but the good thing with those months was that it really reaffirmed that this, byflock and our products, is what I want to do. I want to build something. Start a proper company. Create a lovely and rewarding place for people to work and come together. And I want to be the crazy inventor who as part of an equally nutty team come up with ideas and make them happen, or at least give them a go, learn and then do something better. During those months my feeling and conviction around this grew stronger, but at the same time it became clear that for my co-founder it was slightly different.
You learn a lot about yourself when you embark on this kind of journey. Particularly with regards to what you want out of life and what you want to do. If you’re really going to do a startup it’s a long term commitment asking you to give up quite a few things in order to make sure your new founded company gets of the ground, grows and survives when things get tough. It impacts all your relationships. Not necessarily negatively but it is a time stealer and will be for years to come. D and I talked about it at the start of the year and a number of times after that when I really got into it and was working 2-3 evenings during the week. It’s a big commitment that only you know if you’re prepared to take on, and it has to be right or it’s not worth it.
Contrary to other stories you hear about co-founder teams splitting up and tension rising, they fall out etc, there is none of that. Nothing has changed other than that for me byflock is right. For my co-founder it isn’t. We both still believe just as much in the idea behind byflock, but for my co-founder it became clear that starting and running such a company is not for him. We’ve talked about it and have had some extra thinking time to make sure that taking him off as co-founder and owner of the company is right. And it is so I am now down as the sole founder behind byflock. At least on paper.
I would of course have loved to still have him on, but more than anything I’m glad that this experience has helped make it clear to him what he wants. There will still be some involvement from his side but just in a different format so it’s definitely not goodbye.
Tomorrow – Day 342 | Why I will always be a co-founder
Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/ruthbruin2002/314223482
