What A Co-Founder At Far Homes Wishes They Had Known Before Entering The Startup Industry
Max, a co-founder at Far Homes, found the emotional investment required to be a founder "shocking," admitting that "how much I would be...deep in my heart slash mind, really just invested in this" was far greater than anticipated, even after accounting for long hours and sacrifices. This deep emotional involvement, a facet of the role that surprised even a prepared individual, is something they wish someone had emphasized beforehand.
Emotional Investment, Entrepreneurship, Startup Life, Work-Life Balance, Resilience
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Max Blumen
Co-Founder
Far Homes
UC Berkeley
N/A
Spanish & Other Languages
Real Estate, Technology
Entrepreneurship and Business Owner
Video Highlights
1. The emotional investment required in being a co-founder is significant, and it's difficult to maintain a healthy separation between personal identity and the company.
2. Long hours and sacrifices are expected, but the depth of emotional involvement may be underestimated.
3. Maintaining personal grounding and stability is crucial when dealing with the emotional rollercoaster of success and setbacks in a startup environment
Transcript
What have you learned about this role that you wish someone had told you before you entered the industry?
This one is tricky for me, and it's hard to avoid sounding like a co-founder cliché when talking about it. I'll probably say the exact same thing as anyone else, which is that it's shocking how much emotional investment goes into being the founder or co-founder of a company.
We're a venture-backed startup, but I suspect it's the same, or maybe even more so, for enterprises people start themselves. There's an element where, even if you try to keep boundaries at bay, some of who you are ends up wrapped up in it. There's no way to avoid that.
On one hand, I wish someone had told me that. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't have believed them or understood. I'm not susceptible to that.
But it's really there. I came into this knowing the hours would be long and sacrifices would be necessary. I've done those things before. What I don't think I realized was how deeply invested I would be, heart and mind, and unable to let go of things in a way I'd never experienced.
When things go bad or good, you're tossed around while having to keep yourself grounded. I wish someone had told me, "Dude, you have no idea how much you're going to care about this, even if you think you do."