Please forgive this slightly more personal post; it’s Saturday. It highlights an important issue for startups – having good life balance and weighing opportunity costs.
blist is my second startup, so my family has lived through the long hours and dedication it takes to get a successful company off the ground. My wife, Karen, is phenomenally supportive and manages our busy household with 4 kids between 3 and 16. Three of our kids are starting at new schools this year. Karen asked me on Thursday morning if I would be able to go in the evening to the fall harvest party with Bryce, my kindergartner. I asked her for the details. “It’s from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The kids are going are going to carve pumpkins. It’s designed to integrate dad’s more into school, as mom’s are there all the time. It’s optional. Not all the kids are going. Bryce hasn’t asked if you are going to go. So think about it and let me know.”
I was out of the office all day Thursday with important back-to-back meetings. My last meeting was in Seattle and was to end around 5:30. I’d been skipping the Seattle Tech Startups meetings on the 3rd Thursday of the month, but wanted to go this time because the topic – scalability – is one I’m deeply interested in. Not to mention, I thought this talk might attract other folks who are interested in this topic and I could do some casual network-based recruiting.
As much as I wanted to go to the scalability talk, I knew it would mean more to Bryce for me to go to the fall social. I called home in between meetings and talked to Bryce. I asked him if he wanted to go. Of course he did. He was bursting with excitement. I chatted briefly with my wife and told her my schedule was tight and that I’d pick him just before the social and asked if she could have him ready when I arrived. Of course she could.
When I pulled into our driveway, I could see Bryce standing on the sill of my office window, in full Halloween costume, eagerly waiting for me to arrive. I wouldn’t have known it was him except for his unmistakable ear-to-ear smile and his always-happy-to-see-you wave. It was instantly clear I made the right choice.
Karen had Bryce ready to go and had pre-packed a big grocery bag with a pumpkin, carving tools, paper towels, snacks to share, etc. These are the kinds of small, devotional acts she does every day for all 6 of us.
The fall social was a blast. The kids were up on stage and sang 5 or 6 Christmas songs, but with the lyrics rewritten with fall themes “5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on Gate…”
I was wrong about one thing though. Initially I thought it would mean more to Bryce if I went to the fall social. Actually it meant more to me.
Once you cross the line and become an entrepreneur, there is no more dualism separating a work sphere from a personal sphere. You get 168 hours a week and they all come from the same pot. Driving a startup to success requires long hours and a lot of sacrifice. But it also depends on a healthy, happy loving and supportive family. Manage your time and priorities wisely.
