As 2022 draws to a close, this post is a reflection of my experiences this year. This year is a lot different for me personally and professionally compared to any of my recent years.
Here are my experiences -
As a first-time founder, my journey is quite different compared to my previous career as a software engineer. A founder's journey is like a rollercoaster ride. There will be highs and lows pretty much every day and many times I have experienced both emotions due to multiple things happening at the same time. I have experienced joy when a customer converts to a paid SKU, roll-out a new feature etc. and at the same time it's worrying when there are no customer signups.
As a first-time founder, I naively thought if I build a product that solves a problem, people will use it. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Selling is incredibly hard esp. for enterprise products, you need a strong network of people with authority/influence that will help get the initial users.
The most important thing about building a company is not the product, it's finding customers who are willing to buy it. You can get everything you need (more manpower, resources, investors) once you have customers.
From a technology perspective, the past year is just incredible. I was able to get a product from zero to a public release that ran over 400,000 monitoring checks in the last 4 months. I worked with varieties of technologies without any constraints during this time - Spring Boot, React, Node, GCP, Containers, Kubernetes, Ops, developing Chrome extensions and multiple integrations. I can't ask for anything more.
Got better exposure to sales cycles, marketing, ads, privacy, corporate and the legal side of things. When working in a large enterprise, I felt annoyed dealing with legal reviews. I think I now have a different perspective on all those reviews and am appreciative of their work.
Working ~solo means fewer meetings, better control of my time, no need for coordination, and large periods to focus on work without distractions. Smaller the team, the better the work!
Being a founder is a stressful job because of the uncertainties every day. Gardening has been my go-to activity for relaxation this year. I get motivated to just step away from my computer to see and smell the roses in my garden. Here are a few roses from my garden this year.
I am very excited about 2023 and I think it will be the year of make or break for me. Onwards!