Why there is a Superman cape for every founder
Understanding the lower end of the entrepreneurial iceberg
Last week we hosted a startup pitch competition with an amazing bunch of students at the university. 7 pitches in front of an experienced jury. The students did a great job and I loved to see the passion and energy required to get things off the ground. Coaching young entrepreneurs is one of the most rewarding jobs there is.
In general, I notice that there is little emphasis on how the roles of the team are defined and how roles evolve during a startup journey.
Everybody agrees that a startup’s life consists of an incredible amount of tasks. The tasks that you take on right from the start are more or less grouped around 6 key roles. Of course, you need to identify market opportunities, be able to recruit and grow a team, do the financial planning, source potential investors and most importantly sell, to get the best investor possible, your customers. They will let your business really travel to new destinations.
But, nobody tells you about the lower end of the iceberg. That’s where the really interesting part of the life of the founder takes place. It’s packed with drama, stress, sweat and challenging situations in a world that not many people experience during their life. Today, I will celebrate superman, one of the four founder personas.
So, what’s going on underneath the surface?
It reminds me of a day in fall 2015 when the debt collectors of the Tax Authorities came towards our small and intriguing office. Of course, we knew they were coming over because of the blue envelope avalanche with late payment notices. Two kind male persons in a suit entered our messy office after explaining the procedure to us: mapping our company assets and providing a month's notice to finally clear our bills. If we did not pay our tax debt, this would lead to a forced auction of our computers and cleaning mobs. The team members’ faces were pale and everybody was nervous when they put stickers on our laptops and coffee machine.
When they left, the message was clear: pay over 185k euros or we could close the doors for good.
Whilst looking at my laptop and seeing our cash flow projection, I began to sweat and realised that we did not have the money to meet up to our short term obligations. The team had been informed that the salaries were late again and I had been living for months on my personal credit card and cash from the atm across the street. In this confronting and impossible situation, I was in despair to find a solution.
Then I read the forms again that I received from the debt collectors. On the last page, something drew my attention: “Call this number to discuss your situation”. I instantly knew this was a ticket to get out of misery. The lady I spoke with that afternoon was one of the kindest credit managers I ever met.
After a 20-minute phone call, I told her she could get a nice cake delivered to her office. But she declined: “we are not allowed, unfortunately”. After I wired 10k from my last personal savings as a sign of good faith, we could start the dialogue. And most important, hold off the fire sale of our company assets. We kept her informed about our developments ever since. 6 months later we cleared the full amount at once.
This was the best and most rewarding phase. We lived with high stakes, all my money invested in the company, no income and private bills piling up. Through winning new customers and spending much time to keep the team together with transparency and maintaining the dialogue, eventually led to our survival.
Dealing with shit situations like these, legal suits, personnel issues, and private challenges such as relationship problems makes you go deep.
Overcoming those situations makes you stronger as a founder and will earn you your Superman cape. Circling back to all the startups out there, be aware of the ‘other roles’ you will eventually take on and don’t forget to enjoy the unmatched learning experience.