Category: POPULAR POSTS

Are You a Victim of the Diminishing Dreams Syndrome?

Peter Cauton

When I was in high school, I dreamt of someday owning a huge firm.

Then I entered college.

When I was in college, only the ones with the highest grades were given the most recognition. So I figured, only they could one day “own a company.”

So, from thereon, I dreamt of becoming a high-ranking corporate employee – perhaps a C-whatever-O!

Then I joined a corporation.

I came in as an entry-level HR Officer. The more I learned about my field, the more I realized how incredibly difficult it is to overcome my chosen corporate function and make truly strategic decisions.

So, from thereon, I dreamt of becoming a “Head of HR” one day.

Moreover, I also saw that in corporations, the best managers were often given “car plans” or “company cars.” Of course, I wanted to be the best.

So, from thereon, I dreamt of getting my own car – a FORD ESCAPE if possible, because I thought it looked good.

More than once I thought. “Hey, I’m not really happy! I can’t wait for the week to end and the work is getting repetitive.” But then when I asked around, everyone else felt the same way.

So, from thereon, I thought, “That’s life.” And then I just forced myself to chug along, day after day after day after day after day.

Then, one day I was the Head of HR for an entire firm. My salary was higher, so naturally, I quickly got a loan to purchase a FORD ESCAPE (which I eventually loathed because it was such a gas-guzzler) The monthly loan payments were debilitating, and in truth I could have used the money for more important stuff. But hey, who cares?  I had my car, right?!!!

Then, after some time, I got a bit confused. Wait, so what was left to dream of? I dared not dream of being a CXO. Owning a firm was even more laughable.

So, I instead “dreamt” of just getting higher pay, year after year. Maybe get a job outside the country to earn higher currency. That’s it. I figured, nothing wrong with that right? Everyone I talked to dreamt of the same thing, and talked about the same thing.

In around a decade’s time, society and corporate life had subtly diminished my dreams from “owning a firm” into “receiving a higher salary increase next year” and “owning an Escape.” At one point, these two were my professional dreams. DREAMS. Egad.

My friends, our dreams should be saved for bigger, much more meaningful things. God placed us on this earth for far greater things than a nice car and nice pay. Our dreams fuel our hopes, which in turn, fuel our souls. We should take great care of our dreams. 

Buy hey, you know, my dreams include the really big things, like having a family and travelling to Europe and stuff, they don’t involve work. Work is just work.

Stop thinking this way. Work is such an important part of our lives. It is where MOST of our waking hours are spent. A person who feels broken about “just work” is simply just a broken person. I was.

What, so inspiration, meaning, and feeling great are just reserved for the weekends?

When I took stock of where I was, and I made a conscious decision to follow my younger, more childlike dreams, I noticed something very different.

My dreams grew.

My initial dream was to “just earn enough to get out of corporate.” And I did (with a great leap). Then I figured we could “grow this baby” into an industry leader. We did. Then I figured I could use the experience to create more startups. I did. Then I figured I could use everything I learned to help people create more startups. This is my passion dream now, and it excites and burns within me furiously. I would do this for free. And when I think of it, I think it’s an aspiration worth being called a dream.

Are your dreams getting less and less worthy of being called a “dream?” Are you a victim of the Diminishing Dreams Syndrome? If you are, then this recognition alone can prove to be a monumental asset. Get out of this downward spiral, fast.

It might be good to take a long leave. But don’t go to Boracay with your friends first. Retreat. It might be tough to see the forest from the trees, so take a step back first. Take stock of who you are and what is meaningful to you. Pray. Consider. Be open.

Then ask yourself this question: what do you REALLY want to do?

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REPOST STICKY: 6 Tips for Developing a Startup Without Quitting Your Day Job, Part 1

Peter Cauton

For a lot of us, taking an immediate startup leap can be a daunting task – as much as possible, we want to remain practical and mitigate risk. Before diving in, we want to ensure that the startup can sustain our family’s needs.

Fortunately, it IS possible to create a startup while holding on to your day job. Again, the definition of what a startup is crucial here. While I find that it is possible to START a startup on a part-time basis, I would argue that it is impossible to SIGNIFICANTLY GROW one while being attached to a day job.

Take note that we are talking about startups here. It is entirely doable to pull off creating a small business like a food stand franchise or an internet cafe while never leaving your day job. A true startup, however, is a different matter.

If you are planning to create a significant startup, you already need to think of your current day job as temporary. 

You have decide that when your startup reaches a certain milestone, you will need to jump in. No startup can live and grow to its fullest potential if the founder doesn’t treat it as its number one professional priority.

(Think of all the great startups you know. All of them had founders who gave their ALL)

But starting a startup? Entirely possible. I went through this route myself. Here are some insights from that experience.

1) Take a Deep Breath

If you want to build something that is truly of value WHILE you have an 8 to 5 job, then you have to accept that it will take sacrifice. Something WILL give because there are only 24 hours in a single day. Whether be it sleep, or time with loved ones and friends, or the time you spend on your hobbies – something will have to be sacrificed.

It might be time to have a good talk with people around you who will be affected, not merely so they will understand, but also to help you garner much-needed support.

Take a deep breath. Understand what you are taking on. Pray. Then start.

2) Maximize startup work time

Here are some suggestions:

a) Work through lunch. I would eat my lunch on my table and work through the whole hour – typing up proposals, creating copy, pushing numbers. Sometimes we would schedule interviews during these breaks in a nearby coffee shop. That’s 5 hours a week right there.

b) Do not make traffic a factor. Hang out in the cafeteria and work until traffic subsides.

c) If possible, move to a place near your work. When my first startup STORM incorporated, I decidedly moved into a condominium just beside Tektite Ortigas where my day job was. That condo eventually became the first STORM office, creating a ton of strategic efficiencies.

d) Get another day job. If your current job makes you work like a dog for 14 hours a day – quit that job and find something with better work-life balance. It is IMPOSSIBLE to do something else if the job requires that many hours from you day-in and day-out. Again if doing a startup is your main goal, you have to look at your current job as a stepping stone. If your current job isn’t helping you towards your ultimate goal, just quit. Find another job.

3) Conserve Salary

One thing you will quickly notice when you begin working for your startup is that the actual expenses are always much greater than your projections. Some startup resources actually tell you to expect double. Turns out you’re using more paper, or more ink, or that you need an intern to do research, or the old PC you borrowed for operations breaks down, or your electricity costs soar during the summer. So where will you get the money to pay for these expenses?

This is one advantage of starting while working part-time. Instead of draining a limited “war-chest” or raising more money, you can perhaps bank on your salary. Frugal living then becomes a must, as it can feel like you added a new baby to your family.

Click here to continue onto part 2! Next three tips include arranging a “Startup Mega-Production Week.”

(Know anyone you think just NEEDS to hear the content of Juangreatleap? Be a blessing and share NOW!)

6 Tips for Developing a Startup Without Quitting Your Day Job, Part 1

Peter Cauton

For a lot of us, taking an immediate startup leap can be a daunting task – as much as possible, we want to remain practical and mitigate risk. Before diving in, we want to ensure that the startup can sustain our family’s needs.

Fortunately, it IS possible to create a startup while holding on to your day job. Again, the definition of what a startup is crucial here. While I find that it is possible to START a startup on a part-time basis, I would argue that it is impossible to SIGNIFICANTLY GROW one while being attached to a day job.

Take note that we are talking about startups here. It is entirely doable to pull off creating a small business like a food stand franchise or an internet cafe while never leaving your day job. A true startup, however, is a different matter.

If you are planning to create a significant startup, you already need to think of your current day job as temporary. 

You have decide that when your startup reaches a certain milestone, you will need to jump in. No startup can live and grow to its fullest potential if the founder doesn’t treat it as its number one professional priority.

(Think of all the great startups you know. All of them had founders who gave their ALL)

But starting a startup? Entirely possible. I went through this route myself. Here are some insights from that experience.

1) Take a Deep Breath

If you want to build something that is truly of value WHILE you have an 8 to 5 job, then you have to accept that it will take sacrifice. Something WILL give because there are only 24 hours in a single day. Whether be it sleep, or time with loved ones and friends, or the time you spend on your hobbies – something will have to be sacrificed.

It might be time to have a good talk with people around you who will be affected, not merely so they will understand, but also to help you garner much-needed support.

Take a deep breath. Understand what you are taking on. Pray. Then start.

2) Maximize startup work time

Here are some suggestions:

a) Work through lunch. I would eat my lunch on my table and work through the whole hour – typing up proposals, creating copy, pushing numbers. Sometimes we would schedule interviews during these breaks in a nearby coffee shop. That’s 5 hours a week right there.

b) Do not make traffic a factor. Hang out in the cafeteria and work until traffic subsides.

c) If possible, move to a place near your work. When my first startup STORM incorporated, I decidedly moved into a condominium just beside Tektite Ortigas where my day job was. That condo eventually became the first STORM office, creating a ton of strategic efficiencies.

d) Get another day job. If your current job makes you work like a dog for 14 hours a day – quit that job and find something with better work-life balance. It is IMPOSSIBLE to do something else if the job requires that many hours from you day-in and day-out. Again if doing a startup is your main goal, you have to look at your current job as a stepping stone. If your current job isn’t helping you towards your ultimate goal, just quit. Find another job.

3) Conserve Salary

One thing you will quickly notice when you begin working for your startup is that the actual expenses are always much greater than your projections. Some startup resources actually tell you to expect double. Turns out you’re using more paper, or more ink, or that you need an intern to do research, or the old PC you borrowed for operations breaks down, or your electricity costs soar during the summer. So where will you get the money to pay for these expenses?

This is one advantage of starting while working part-time. Instead of draining a limited “war-chest” or raising more money, you can perhaps bank on your salary. Frugal living then becomes a must, as it can feel like you added a new baby to your family.

Click here to continue onto part 2! Next three tips include arranging a “Startup Mega-Production Week.”

(Know anyone you think just NEEDS to hear the content of Juangreatleap? Be a blessing and share NOW!)

How God Founded Our Startup

Peter Cauton


When a new employee starts in STORM, or any of the startups I’m associated with (we’re all in one building), they are treated to something different (especially if they’ve previously worked in corporations before) which happens every three o’clock. We invite the newbie to our conference room, where we read the Gospel for the day, and then everyone gets her turn to say a prayer.

When we celebrate a victory, we quickly remind ourselves that ultimately, it was God who enabled the victory. Yes, we have very talented and intelligent people on our team – but where do all these gifts come from anyway? We cannot and will not take full credit.

On the lower-right corner of our website, you will see Whom we dedicate this company to.

Why am I so obsessed with creating a workplace where culture is defined by faith?

During the company newbie orientation process, I give the talk on our history. A history of a startup is pretty much the history of its founders. When I give this talk, I get quite emotional because it is my life I am sharing. I tell new employees about how truly blessed we were in those early years – about how timing would always be so eerily perfect. The right client when we need it. A founder who backed out, only to become our first (needed) client. The right employee when we need it. Never missing payroll even in those times when we didn’t know where we could get the cash – I consider this nothing short of a miracle.

Soon, I reach the point where I talk about making my great leap in 2008 – from part-time to full-time, from corporate lifer to full-blown entrepreneur.

I made that leap at the MOST inopportune time ever – a full-blown recession, STORM having all sorts of problems, a person borrowing a huge chunk of money from me disappearing (and in doing so, wiping out my funds), a newborn son and a wife to support, our then-largest client alerting us through fax that they were letting go of us in two weeks, an impending 80% salary cut if I went full-time in STORM.

It was a completely idiotic decision.

So why, why, why, did I choose to make that leap when I did?

Discernment – I knew God wanted me to do so.

That’s it.

There was no secret client I was wooing, nor did I have a cash stash somewhere. No ace in the sleeve. Nor did I possess any irrational confidence that I could turn things around. I was wracked with doubt. Logic screamed at me to reconsider. I was not at peace.

(side note: I find that having “peace” with a decision is an overrated discernment element. I find that a lot of times, God talks to us by disturbing us. Oftentimes, when God asks us to grow and expand our horizons, it isn’t peace that is felt. It is disturbance. It is disturbance because when we expand our horizons, we always step out of our comfort zones)

But God was my rock.

So I leapt when He said so. It was truly a leap of Faith.

And ever since that leap, God has remained so faithful.

Not only has STORM been doubling revenues every year since ’08, but I have found what I want to do for the rest of my life: building startups and helping people build startups. I can talk about this topic nonstop for weeks. For the first time in my life, I have voluntarily devoured tons of (non-fiction)books on a topic. You could ask my wife – I have given up radio and I now instead listen to audiobooks and podcasts while driving. I would do this for free – I love this stuff.

I sometimes think of what I do now: the thrill of starting things, the experience of learning something by making decisions and truly being accountable for the ramifications, growing my startup family, work becoming my hobby and vice-versa, being involved in radically different but interesting things, writing and talking to people about something I am truly passionate about, I think of all these and I shudder. I shudder at the thought of how quickly and easily I might have decided to ignore that call to leap. Then I thank God again and again for the inspiration I was given.

I am utterly convinced with my entire being that if God had not intervened, if I had not been sufficiently guided, if I just followed what the world would have had me do, I would not have taken that leap. I would still be in a corporation now – completely uninspired, working for just my salary, totally waiting for Friday just like everyone else. No startups for me. No juangreatleap.

Instead, I had been redeemed.

This month, I met up with two blog readers I haven’t previously been acquainted with who invited me for coffee. Both asked me why I was doing this. Both noticed there weren’t any ads on this site. Both noticed I wasn’t asking for money during the meeting.

This is my answer, guys 🙂 There will never be ads on this site, nor will I be asking for money for “consulting” when I meet people. This part of my life has been Gift. And so, for my part, I will share what I can with those who trust me enough to ask.

In all the ways I can think of, I try to make God the center of my work.

Just simply to give credit where it is due.

(Join the Juangreatleap movement and learn more about startups! Subscribe to the blog now to get the newsletter and join the forum)

Pick your startup idea using the 3 circles

Peter Cauton

A long time ago, I read the bestselling book by Jim Collins, a book which a lot of you are probably familiar with, Good to Great.

I have forgotten everything about the book except his 3 circles framework. Jim illustrates that for good companies to become great, they have to exist in the “sweet spot” of 3 overlapping circles. While the book was really made for large corporations, and used data mainly from large corporations, I realized how applicable the “3-circle” framework is for startups. I use this framework extensively in startup product development.

My simplified version of the framework looks like this:

So let’s say you’re deliberating on what startup idea you’d like to pursue, and you have a few ideas you’re evaluating. This framework then becomes extremely useful. Each of the elements are crucial.

Some scenarios:

1) You have an idea you are passionate about, and can do it brilliantly, but people probably won’t pay you to do it.

Then this is simply a hobby, not a business. I could be the very best in the world in naming every G.I. Joe character who ever existed and recite their complete profiles, but the likelihood of me getting compensated for this skill might not be so hot.

Here’s the interesting thing here though: because of the internet, you can now easily find people with similar passions as you have. If you can build a related skill-set to world-class levels – the internet makes it so much easier to find a market. So say you’re the world’s best in restoring action figures, there’s a better chance of finding a market now than there was pre-internet.

2) You can pursue something you are passionate about and people will pay you to do, but you aren’t so good at it.

Then at some point your startup will fail, because consumers don’t like settling. This is still a pretty good spot to be in though, because your objective becomes clear – you have to build competence.

3) You can also choose to work on something which you are really good at, and people will pay you for it.

If you leave your corporate job and form your startup under these circumstances, then this is really jumping from the fire into the frying pan. This is really the corporate assembly line all over again. It’s actually a bit worse, because it will be harder to extricate yourself from the situation. So while this is tempting, it’s a recipe for frustration and zombification. Don’t.

One important thing to consider is that startups are typically composed of more than one founder. So it becomes more interesting (and fun) to tackle these questions.

What are we passionate about? What will people pay us to do? What are we collectively awesome at?

Time for that coffee meeting.

9 Startup Myths Part 1 of 3

Peter Cauton

For the next three days, I’ll be talking about 3 assumptions I discovered were completely wrong as I went through the startup process:

1) You need a ton of money to start

Nope, you don't need it.

Back in 2005, we were rejected by 2-3 investors before we said, “The heck with it, let’s just pool our own money and start.” My initial cash-out as an owner was P30,000.00. Far cry from the hundreds of thousands we thought we needed. It turns out it was enough.

Nowadays, you could start firms with even less, as the cost barriers continue to fall.

Last Thursday, I had a productive brainstorming session with an old friend of mine who was in the printing/publishing business. I suggested, “Why don’t you try building a 2.0 version of your current business on the net?” He told me he thought it would take around P2-3 million to do a web startup.

I told him I could connect him to tech people so he can knock zeroes out of his initial investment assumption.

Web startups are the most cost-effective startup type of them all. If you can program, you can build an e-commerce website for less than a pittance and start a business. You don’t know how to program? Sell your startup idea to someone who does and offer her substantial equity. She can instead work on the website for the equity instead of you paying a salary or a fee.

A great entrepreneur will ALWAYS find a way to get things done without a huge initial investment.

2) You will be your own boss

This was one of the first myths I discovered just wasn’t true.

When Pao and I started, we immediately made business cards which said “CEO” and “COO.” Yeah, we just loved the sound of that!

The moment we worked with clients though, it became very apparent who the real boss was. Needing to prove ourselves and earn trust in the market, we needed to over-deliver every time with every new client. That usually meant being under the beck and call of each client who chose to work with us. They were the real bosses and dictated everything.

Oh, you want this 4 month project crammed into a month?

Sure, no problem!

Oh, so you want me to do this 20-slide presentation which isn’t in the contract we signed? For free?

Sure, no problem!

Even the titles themselves worked against us. Once, Pao was in a presentation with a bank executive,  to whom he gave his “COO” biz card. Upon looking at the card, the client smiled and replied, “Oh, COO ka pala eh, ibaba mo naman young presyo.”

From then on, we just changed our titles to “Consultant.”

3) My corporate life would prepare me for startup life

When we were starting, I thought my 10-year corporate experience would help me run things in STORM.

Wrong.

There is nothing in my corporate career that could have prepared me for life in a startup.

Here’s the big difference: in corporations, unless you are the CEO, you think only as far as your function is concerned.

Going up the corporate ladder in human resources, I only thought as far as HR was concerned. Yes, I was trained to be a “strategic business partner” and know the business better – but I never made decisions for anything beyond my departmental role, and I would always look at things through the lens of my function.

In a startup, you learn veryveryvery quickly how and why every decision affects every other business function. Since resources are extra-scarce in new startups, you are forced to make (quick) decisions considering ALL the affected functions. Nothing in isolation.

Let’s say you want to implement a particular marketing plan. You then make an analysis that you would need someone full-time on it for 3 months. You could do it yourself, but then who would do current consulting work you are doing for a current client? Let’s say you consider hiring a person instead, what would that person do after the 3 months are up? What sort of person will you need? Do you have enough money to afford her? Who would train her? What happens if she’s successful and lands projects within the first month? Who would do the account management for these new clients?

Corporations train us to do work on a per-department basis. Sure, you have your management trainee programs – but each of these trainees is ultimately assigned to a home department after their tour of duty.

Startup work demands immediate holistic, systemic thinking. A corporation trains us in a singular function, because this is the most efficient way to structure things (like an assembly line).

This is why I’ve always said to friends that in a single year in a startup, I learned more about business than a decade in corporate.

Three more myths busted in part 2!

(Join the Juangreatleap movement and learn more about startups! Subscribe to the blog now to get the newsletter and join the forum)

Get Off The Corporate Assembly Line!

Peter Cauton

Do you remember the last time you did truly great work? I bet your output was made possible because you were fired up and inspired, and you threw your entire being into the project. I bet you thought about the project during non-work hours, in fact, I bet you had trouble sleeping because your mind was so buzzed thinking about possibilities regarding your project. It was work which was consuming, inspiring, and meaningful. There was a point to it.

It was work you believed in.

Now, how long ago was it when you felt this way? A lot of my friends in the corporate world haven’t felt this way for a long time. Oh, they might feel this way for the first few months of a new job, but when reality sets in, the humdrums return with a vengeance.

Why?

One reason is autonomy. Or lack thereof. I find that I can do far greater work in projects I know I have the autonomy to fully influence. In big corporations, such blanketed autonomy is rare. You have an idea for your project? Then you have to sell it to your boss first, then perhaps more bosses. The larger the idea, the more signatures you have to collect.The more radical and revolutionary your idea is, the more difficult it is to secure signatures. This is why in large corporations, to be effective you really have to be a politician. You have to collect the signatures to get things done.

Another reason is that majority of companies are built for efficiency.  The owner equation is simple: I want my company to produce goods and services at the least cost. The fastest way that is achieved? Using the assembly line.

“Assembly line” jobs are more commonplace than you think. The “copy-paste” job I described in my very first post exists in large numbers, albeit perhaps not as blatant.

Take a look at your job description. Are you given enough freedom to pursue something that’s meaningful to you?

Come to think of it, the very fact that you have a job description points to the whole conundrum. The purpose of the job description is to limit your role – its to make sure boundaries are set. Interestingly, I hear so many people say “I hate working with this guy – he doesn’t do work beyond his job description.” Then why have the job descriptions in the first place? Isn’t it ironic then that the people who succeed and are promoted in firms are the very people who go beyond what is in the job description?

Are you lost in the org chart?

Traditional corporations are structured by silos, by departments. The bigger the firm, the more sub-departments are created, the more limited a job becomes. This is why the biggest firms have people who cut and paste all day. This is when people get commoditized.

A person can be given a manual, sent to a training course or two, and few months on the job, and…boom! You have been assimilated. When a person can replace another person by sticking closely to the job description, I’d call that an assembly line.

Of course, there are exceptions. I’ve worked with several companies who give autonomy to their employees and treat them as partners. I’ve met several individuals who truly love what they are doing, do great work, and inspire people around them. Are these common? You know the answer.

YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIMILATED

Instead, we find people in the assembly line. People who hate Mondays and treat Fridays like the greatest thing since sliced bread. People who work merely for their paychecks and look for their kicks elsewhere. People who just go through the motions and find themselves on Facebook the whole day, because they can do the required work in just 1-2 hours. This is a tragedy.

The ONE TRUE RISK I faced in taking the startup leap

Peter Cauton

One of these days, I’ll post the full-blown story of what exactly happened when I took the leap and kissed my corporate career goodbye. It was truly a Faith-Leap for me.

Till then, kindly make do with this super abridged version:

I was a 33-year old corporate lifer with a wife and a newborn son I was supporting. It was the middle of the 2008 recession. The startup firm I was working part-time putting up was struggling mightily, partly because I wasn’t giving it the time it deserved.

I had two paths to take.

One was to continue on my 12-year corporate career as a line HR director, continue receiving my comfortable salary, continue with the peace of mind that my family would be ok. I would also continue working in a career I had since realized wasn’t for me, and didn’t stoke my passions anymore. It would also mean the sure-death of STORM, my startup baby.

The other path was unthinkable: to go full-time in the startup, in an effort to right the ship. In doing so, I would be swallowing an 80% salary cut during a recession year and I would be leaving behind a career which took a decade to build. It would mean my startup would have a chance of surviving.

Easy choice right? Bye-bye STORM. After all, what idiot would risk his family? The more I thought of it however, the more I saw the real risk.

It then became clear: I could always go back to my corporate career. There would ALWAYS be someone in need of a good HR guy. If my experiment with STORM didn’t work out, I could always go back. Malamang may increase pa. 

On the other hand, I realized I could never go back to STORM. Had I let go of it, it would have died and that would’ve been it. I would never find out what could’ve happened if I took the leap. I knew it would be hard to live with that what-if. The real risk was to grow old one day and never find out.  

And so, with confidence and faith amidst a trying time, I took my great leap.

My wife Pauline supported me that time through and through. We tightened our belts and made small sacrifices to make ends meet. It never became desperate though. In a few months, we were Blessed with a big client, and revenues started growing.

The benefits of making the leap are fantastic: I am able to pursue what I am passionate about everyday. I wake up in the morning actually excited to go to work. I am learning tremendously. I am able to decide and do what I feel is relevant and important, like this blog, in the context of my work. I feel God more in the workplace, and feel surer that I am where He wants me to be – pursuing my God-given passions.

These are things which I feel everyday, which I seldom felt in my corporate career. I believe everyone should be given the freedom to pursue these, work is such an integral part of our lives. We can’t and mustn’t settle.

Think about it. Is the risk even that big?

Young people. They say “startups are for the young” because of two things: first is that it takes a lot of energy to pursue a startup. You will work HARDER than you did in corporate. Hopefully it’s not only because of your intense will to make it, but also because you’ve chosen a product you love. The other reason startups are for the young? You have nothing to lose. You don’t have mouths to feed yet, nor a house loan to pay. You can always go back climbing the corporate ladder. It will always be there for you.  The ONLY thing you might be sacrificing is lifestyle (the one your corporate salary allows you to afford), which really if you think about it, isn’t worth it. At all. If you have that itch, there is no sense stalling. Take that leap now.

Slightly older folks. You probably have something to lose. It’s the large, 2x-a-month cash that comes in like clockwork. You use it to feed your dependents. If you think about it, your career is NOT really at risk – you can always go back to it.  By now though, you probably have an idea if that career of yours really is something you really love, or its something you are stuck with. If it is the latter, you owe it to yourself to take a leap – don’t settle. Not necessarily a giant, hairy leap, but perhaps smaller, more calculated leaps that build momentum. (I talk about that here) Create a definitive plan. Partner with young people who can take the big leaps. You are the one they will look for needed domain knowledge. Small, low-risk steps.

Look, startups are not for everyone. They require a high tolerance for ambiguity and failure, as well as high intestinal fortitude. I remember the early years when my partner Pao and I would face not knowing where the money would come from WHILE losing a huge client WHILE losing a key employee WHILE having to clean the office. Grabe. However, if you have that fire in your belly, there is NOTHING as exhilarating as being the captain of your own ship, I tell you.

There is only one way to find out though. Take a chance.