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When your startup turns one year older - Sara Du

saradu.substack.com · 372 words · saved by 1 readers

I feel lucky. Building a company, besides being an opportunity to create outsized value in this world, also happens to be one of the best vehicles for personal growth. I consider the market, my teammates, my investors, and the countless other people I’ve met along the way as mentors in this journey. As I look back over the blurry years, I can make out a few themes and feelings that stand out from each chapter: Year 1 - Long nights, grinding, living monastically. Company building distilled down to its purest form is really just willing something into existence. Year 2 - Early team members join and hit their cliffs. The heart of the company is no longer solely with the founders; the company develops a soul of its own. It’s possible to sit back and marvel at this thing that can now run independently. There’s time to take a weekend off finally. Year 3 - A new product line, real sales, more go-to-market experiments, real board meetings. The team grows, the bureaucracy we long rejected threa

When your startup turns one year older Take a pause Sara Du Nov 01, 2023 21 1 Share The days are long, but the years are short — Alloy turns 4 today. I feel lucky. Building a company, besides being an opportunity to create outsized value in this world, also happens to be one of the best vehicles for personal growth. I consider the market, my teammates, my investors, and the countless other people I’ve met along the way as mentors in this journey. As I look back over the blurry years, I can make out a few themes and feelings that stand out from each chapter: Year 1 - Long nights, grinding, livi

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