Startup Years

Author’s Note: This post was written 12/21/13.

 

Wait, when was that event? It was last year I think….no, on second thought that was in June, just four months ago. Thought: a startup year is about 5 years of regular corporate life. 

So many different events, meetings, mixers, etc. have been packed into this past twelve months, it seems like so much more. People came, and people went at a pace that Traklight had never experienced before. We added net thirteen people to our original team of three who started the year with us. And ten of those folks joined in the last 120 days.

The workday and work week are non-existent concepts. There is no work/life balance for an entrepreneur, particularly during rapid growth. Every waking moment (and some sleeping time) is spent on work. I sleep with paper by my bed because I will never remember an idea from the middle of the night. My COO drew the line when I said I wanted to get markers to write ideas and tasks on the tiles in my shower because I would forget by the time I was dried off enough to touch a device. 

I am not saying that startup life is harder than a corporate life; it’s just so different. I choose law school over a return to corporate America and then choose entrepreneurship over the bar exam and the practice of law.  While in law school, I could not get into the idea of graduating and being part of a firm with rules plus formality.

As I write this, I am on a plane starting a family vacation and thrilled to have some time to write. My husband is reading over my shoulder while watching the inflight movie and laughing that I am “working.” You could argue that I am doing this because this particular six-hour flight is without Wi-Fi but, to be honest, I was a bit relieved that it was not available. The teenagers are all on their devices and frankly no one cares what I am doing!  In fact, my step-daughter once commented, “It’s not really work because you love it so much.”

It is the thrill of the freedom to operate our company our way and the ability to improve others’ chance of success. We strive to do this in two ways: Being relentless about putting the customers and clients first, and most importantly to create opportunities for our team that will hopefully make them wish to start their own businesses. 

Entrepreneurs are crazy or at least the ones that I know.  Not a day goes by that I do not wake up excited for what the day will bring. I cried when I read the company values that you can find our blog (and soon the website). 

I am so fortunate to have integrated my passion for helping other entrepreneurs and companies into everything I do. There is no difference between “work Mary” and “home Mary”.  Our team is only people I would hang out with and have over to our house. 

Having raised kids, I am painfully aware of how fast time flies and by saying the past year is like five years in one does not mean it went by slowly. Instead, it’s like when you meet someone and you feel like you have known them forever and cannot remember a time without them. That is Traklight, the Trakers, and our mission.

Onwards to the next five years.