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Building a startup is not about prosecution – it’s about learning to develop in the unknown. Growth, risk and possibilities collide at every step, creating dynamics that is as exciting as uncertain. Fragility, momentum and reinvestment are not only the strength in the game; They define entrepreneurial travel elements.
My experiences, from building an early service to a co -foundation of density and now leading BreadI taught me that success does not result from avoiding these forces. This is due to understanding their mutual dependence and moving with them with their intention.
Fragility paradox
The startups are fragile with design. Regardless of whether you build a product, manage money flows or do a team, each move seems to arrange bricks on an unstable foundation. Even when all the things goes well, fragility all the time lurks below the surface.
Our first company, a service company, developed quickly. During the 12 months we achieved over $ 1 million revenues and in every respect it seemed stable. But the services firms are deceptive fragile. Revenues are associated with a handful of shoppers and the lack of only one of them can send all the things into freedom.
This is what happened. The important customer was left and suddenly we couldn’t make a payroll. My co -founders and I finished paying, lowering expenses and worked on reconstruction. We went through it, but the experience left an indelible lesson: only because now things are good, it does not mean that they’ll remain so. Frying requires vigilance.
This reality became much more visible when we have invested profits in recent ideas again. Every project we launched was fragile – a lot failed – but fragility was not a reason to stop. It was a reminder to focus, determine priorities and act definitely in the face of uncertainty.
Momentum short -sightedness
The momentum could seem an antidote to fragility. When starting the product gains adhesion or revenues, it is tempting to think that you are indescribable. But the momentum, left unchecked, can create dead places.
In the density we have launched our first hardware product-a bream man to track pedestrian traffic-a wave of pleasure. The demand increased and the pressure of rapid movement was huge. But the product was not ready. Problems with accuracy in real conditions became obvious after implementation, and the flaws forced us to reset.
We allowed the rush to order our decisions, pushing forward without asking if the foundation was solid. It was a painful but obligatory lesson: the shoot is worthwhile only when it is paired with a reflection. Stopping to assess, does not kill progress; It ensures that the growth is balanced.
Reinvestment imperative
If fragility requires focus and the rush requires discipline, reinvestment is a jump of religion that drives the discovery. Every dollar we have earned in the service industry returned to the company, not only to maintain the operation, but to finance experiments.
Most of those experiments failed. We built products that no one needed, we sank time for too complex solutions and made expensive mistakes. But one of those ideas – density – stood out. It was fragile, like all early projects, but he had potential.
Its potential led to our decision to close the activities of services and focus completely on density. It wasn’t easy. Investors explained: If we wanted to support them, we had to enter all the things. Giving up a profitable business to bet on an unverified product, how to jump off the cliff. But without reinvestment – without years of experiments financed from profits of services – we might not have the opportunity for this jump.
Connecting it
These lessons didn’t end in density. In bread, they shape the way we think about building resistant firms. Cramp, rush and reinvestment are not challenges to eliminate – they are dynamics for navigation.
The founders of fragility forces to confront hard truths and focus on what is most vital. Momentum provides energy, but you need to manage reflection. And reinvesting, although dangerous, creates transformation conditions.
Entrepreneurship’s journey is not about avoiding failure – it’s about learning from it, adapting and taking a deliberate risk. We are approaching every founder and a portfolio company with this manner of pondering, so as not to protect them from these forces, but to help them move successfully.
Cramp, momentum and reinvestment are solid. But when they are covered, they are not only to endure – they are the basis of what makes the startups bloom.