From "I Can't" to "I Did": Building Bravery
(4 Minute Read) How tackling insecurities and betting on myself led to growth, success, and the confidence to face new challenges
👋🏼 I’m Alek, a repeat founder. I’ve built and sold one company so far. I share what I’ve learned from building companies in 5-minute reads every week.
From "I Can't" to "I Did": Building Bravery
As of this month, November 2024, I have been self employed for two years. I am happy that betting on myself is paying off. More than that, I’m proud of myself for everything I’ve learned so far in my career. I’ve always challenged myself to grow. I’ve always looked at the thing that scared me most about my skillset and tackled it head on.
Chapter I: I can’t code. I can’t do real analysis.
My first job out of college was a mix of “Customer Success Manager” and “Analytics.” I helped clients use our software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to analyze their businesses. Success in the role required a blend of people and analytic skills.
Under the hood I felt like an imposter. I knew what analyses we should run, but I didn’t know how to do the analyses myself. I always had the software to assist me. “I can’t do real analysis,” I thought.
As I matured in my role, I decided to tackle my insecurity head on, “I can teach myself.” As a learning project, I thought, “What if I could measure and analyze my own video games skills?” This project would become my first startup. For two years, I spent my free time learning to run analysis using code. In the end, I had developed a well-rounded my analytics skill set.
Chapter II: I can’t build a real product.
As my confidence in my analytics skills grew, a new insecurity emerged, “I’ve never built a product at a real company.” It felt like a new, gaping hole in my knowledge. I could do analysis. I could build a product myself. I’d been working with the SaaS analytics platform for years. But, I didn’t have the skills to build a SaaS platform like the one I’d been using.
I started looking for Product Management roles. I looked for opportunities both at my current company and at others. I found the right opportunity after a few months of searching. I had built this AI gaming assistant. I found a company interested in that technology and hiring me. They acquired my startup and I started working in Product Management. I got to work with a real team to build a real product.
Chapter III: I can’t build a website
I loved working with my team to build products in the gaming space. But, I wished I had a better understanding of the technical side of web development. I had built data platform for the AI gaming assistant, but I had hired an external team to build the website for it. I didn’t feel I understood how website development worked. When I left that company in 2022, I thought, “I’ve never built a real website.”
It was November 2022 and the holidays were coming up. I decided to spend the next two months learning to build a website. I decided to build a notetaking assistant as my learning project. It was a simple web-based notepad. I would use it to jot down my own notes. I would submit my messy notes to an AI. The AI would clean up the notes and return prettified notes back to me. I had learned to build a website.
Chapter IV: I can’t build a company
After building my web application, I reflected on where I wanted to go next. I had built and sold my AI gaming assistant technology. I never scaled it. It only had a handful of users, “I’ve never built a real company.”
Fast-forward to today. The last two years of self-employment have definitely had its ups and downs. I haven’t built the successful software company that I envisioned. I have built a successful consultancy. I haven’t accomplished my original goal, but I’m not done yet.
From "I Can't" to "I Did": Building Bravery
As you read about eight years of learning in a 5-minute read, I expect it sounds easy. Every chapter was hard in its own way. There were plenty of challenges and failures. Today, I wanted to focus on the brighter side.
I am confident in my skills. I am brave when jumping into scary new challenges. I didn’t have this bravery eight years ago. It’s something I learned by overcoming each of the “I can’t…” thoughts above.
What insecurities do you have about your own skillset? Challenge yourself to face them. Know that it will be hard. Self-confidence and bravery are not things you have, they are things you learn.
#Entrepreneurship #SelfEmployment #Startups #Bootstrapping #Founders
By sharing my experiences, I hope to provide insight and advice to entrepreneurs facing similar challenges. Please leave a comment or email me with any questions.