There’s a great Twitter thread that I took part in that was started by Josh Felser, investor at Freestyle Capital. Here is Josh’s initial tweet:
Of course, with Twitter being Twitter, there was some vitriol spewed at Josh.
I jumped in, asking about my situation in particular:
Josh replied:
Everyone is going to have a different opinion on how to best get things done.
Some founders — those with families, lots of debt, and other factors — will have more constraints than others and can’t fully take the leap to work on their venture. Others may choose to be more risk-averse and work on their startups on the side until the time is right to make that jump. And some may go balls-to-the-wall, leave their gigs, and run as fast as they can to get their startup off the ground.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. We all have our theses.
Josh has his thesis about those founders who won’t quit their job until they get funding. If you don’t agree, that’s fine. Just find another investor who is more aligned with your approach. I’m sure they’re out there.
Josh may miss out on some successful investments. And he’ll have to be OK with that.
My wife has been extremely supportive of my startup endeavors, is the breadwinner of the family, and carries the brunt of paying for our expenses. I couldn’t do this without her.
As much as I would love to work full-time on my startup, I have to contribute to my family’s well-being by bringing in some income via part-time consulting gigs. The time to go full-time on my startup will come, but now’s not the right time. Josh won’t fund me, and that’s OK.
There are different paths to success, and everyone will have a different opinion about what that path is. Do what’s best for you.
Originally published at www.mikewchan.com on February 23, 2018.
