Don’t start a company.
Start a company.

Since I founded both of our companies with Arjen and Paul in 2007 I’ve been walking around with the concept of documenting the whole process. A task which has obviously been impossible to complete: you would have been reading one of many, many posts instead of this first summary of what’s been happening up until today. Nevertheless, the urge to write about my experiences has never been cast aside, and now is as good as any time to pass on my thoughts and experiences to anyone who is dreaming about starting their own company.

To start off, I’ve been refraining myself from actually saying “startup” to describe what we’re doing. Now, the following may sound like a big cliché from any random person working in our field: I stopped saying startup since I saw David Heinemeier Hansson speak at the Future of Web Apps in Dublin earlier this year. Apart from (probably) sharing the same problem as me when it comes to name spelling, this guy is obviously an inspiration to many starting entrepreneurs. There is no need to stick my tongue up his butthole. He’s arrived and got the minions. But there is one thing I learned from his talk which has stuck with me ever since. The term “startup” is probably used more in our field than any other market segment in the world. Why? I’m not calling that new little bakery that just opened on the street corner a “bread and pastry startup”. You start a company. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the short time I’ve been active as an entrepreneur, it’s that an internet startup copes with the same problems as any random shoe store.

Regardless of what era you start your company in, you need to think about revenue. Starting a company in a healthy economy, or in one that’s coughing up blood is no different. You are not  Zuckerberg. Steve Jobs is not your homie. Building a company will cost you a shitload. But the economy is no excuse. Sure, angels, VCs and partners (aka the people with actual money) are in better positions. But it’s not like they’re just gonna give you a big bag of money to create your unicorn paradise. And that is something that young entrepreneurs, like myself, are going to find themselves disillusioned with once they start a company.

The last thing I want to do is blow my own horn and profile myself as a serial entrepreneur with mega 1337 business skills. I graduated as a designer. I know how to create cool products that people want to use, make them look and feel good. The other skills, the things that will take up at least 70 percent of your time, I learned the Nike way. Just by doing it. And I’m still learning new things every day.

I could probably write a multitudinous list of reasons why you should not start your own company. The things on that list would include arguments like: You will work day and night. The people that work for you will make more money than you do. You will experience gargantuan amounts of stress. You will be disappointed more than you thought. You will prioritise in spite of things you love. You will have no money. You will disappoint people. And you will have no money.

But it’s worth it.

Because once you get your first users, or your first customer, or even a simple mention on Twitter, you get a feeling of immeasurable awesomeness. That feeling you get after a successful pitch, is what rockstars feel when they go off stage. And the people you’ll meet along the way are worth more than all of those things combined. The list of reasons to start your own company is microscopic compared to the reasons not to. But the weight that a single positive reason carries is extraordinary. I’m grateful to be experiencing that every single day. And I could recommend it to anyone that has the guts to take leadership and start something of their own. Something that is truly yours.

Welcome to I’m afraid, Dave. This is my blog.