I have been self employed since I was 17 years old. From waiting tables to working on my own business (before startups were “cool”), I always chased “paper,” never thinking of the big picture. In my twenties, I made a ton of money aggregating leads in the real estate/mortgage business. The money poured in. Driving a fancy car, going to fancy dinners, I still was miserable. I’d been chasing money all these years and, once I finally had it, it sucked.
After the market crashed and I lost literally all of my clients, I decided to get out of dodge for a while and move to sunny South Florida. I continued my marketing business, assisting in various forms of lead generation, from online to call center marketing. I worked with Fortune 100 companies to grass root, multilevel marketing organizations.
Once again, I was in it for making a shit ton of money and dating as many aspiring cocktail waitresses as possible. I still felt empty. As the clock ticks on, you start to realize that this is the only time you have in this life (depending on your beliefs) and I started to think to myself, “What the fuck am I doing wrong?” Answer: Making every business decision based on money. It’s too slippery a slope living for the dollar, so I decided not to do it any longer.
I began looking for ways of getting involved with things that made my blood flow. After investing, and co-founding my first tech startup, I took ten steps back from my marketing and lead generation business. I began pitching investors in NYC, and while visiting coworking spaces for pitch events, we had the idea to open up our own coworking space. The thought of opening up a HUGE space in the heart of NYC and sharing my business experiences with like-minded people really excited the shit out of me, and I decided I truly wanted to do it.
After re-reading inspirational books, like Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point, I went on to meet brilliant influencers in the NYC tech/entrepreneurial scene. We hung out, we talked business, we got drunk and bonded like family. After asking them one-by-one to work with me, a community started to form. People started to come in on their own and amazing things started to happen. Co-founders met each other at the office, companies met investors, people started dating. The place blew up faster than anything I have ever seen and is now a staple in the entrepreneurial/tech environment in the best city in the world.
It was amazing.
Although we have a viable business that potentially will make a ton of money, the money never came first in any of these new decisions. It was all pure heart and being motivated to give brilliant entrepreneurs all the amenities they need to run their business, and to facilitate as many opportunities as possible to connect them with like-minded people. It’s community collaboration to inspire true innovation, and it’s happening right in front of my face.
Being an entrepreneur is not easy. You are filled with doubt and face many difficult situations. Your friends and family (most of the time) do not even understand what you do. It is a breath of fresh air to be in a room full of people going through the same thing. I came to a conclusion: Community can save your sanity, along with your business.
I am 35 years old and it took me this long to “get it.” Thank goodness I “got it” at all. I love what I do with every step I take in my office and every late night meeting I have to enhance the working environment. I do what I do for true, pure human satisfaction. The companies we help are going to change the world, thus making us an integral part of the process. Money alone cannot buy that, ever.
That’s fucking awesome.
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