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Rollercoasters

November 15, 2024.

That was my last day at Dexcom. I was the most anxious I’ve ever been.

I was walking away from stability. I didn’t know what was next, but I knew I needed a change. I had to take the leap.

This newsletter is my way of documenting what it’s like to learn how to make it on my own. Nobody prepared me for this. And if you think you can follow in the exact footsteps of someone ahead of you, you’re fooling yourself.

I used to believe that. I don’t anymore.

You can learn from others, sure — but success only happens when you start using your unique skills and instincts to move forward. Your own way.

Last week, a friend invited me to Slam.co — a space where people are betting on themselves to build for three months. It was started by two super young founders, Derrick and Declyn. They’ve had a few wins already, now they’re creating something special for others. Think of it like coworking x hacking x creating x community x building.

It reminds me of Buildspace.

Nobody in the cohort has raised venture money. They’re just… building. For themselves. I freaking love that. One guy is 3D printing devices to track cold showers. Another person — a mom — is trying stand-up comedy.

Every Thursday they do this thing where all 20ish people in the batch share:

• what they did this week

• what they commit to doing next week

• how they feel emotionally

• and one random picture from the week

slamco_

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As I sat through those updates, two things hit me:

1. Everyone gets how important content creation is — many are spending half their time on it.

2. Everyone here rides a weekly emotional rollercoaster where they ask themselves “why the fuck am I doing this right now”

I’ve been dancing on #1 for months now. So lets talk about why #2 fires me up.

Right now, I work out of a coworking space filled with YC-backed founders. Smart teams. Funded products. They’re building venture-backed companies.

Then there’s me: The “personality guy.” Recording content in the hallway. Pacing outside on sales calls. Asking engineers for help connecting up front-end to back-end.

I’m not like these guys.

Thats the point.

So when I come across a space full of people who are doing the damn thing the way I wanna do it. It's pretty goddamn reassuring that they feel the same way I do every single day. And while yes, even founders of VC-backed companies ride the roller coaster too, it hits different when you meet others bootstrapping, grinding, and building from scratch — just like myself.

It’s been seven months since I left my full-time job.

• The first two months were “WTF am I doing with my life?”

• Since then: I’ve slowed my financial burn, built a cold plunge community (that doesn’t pay me), and posted glucose content online.

Every single day my emotions run this loop:

It’s only been seven months — but it feels like two years.

I keep telling myself things will feel better when I’m making $10k/month. When I’m not stressed about rent, dinner out with friends, or whether a cease and desist is going to show up in my inbox.

Spoiler: it’s not going to feel “better.”

I talk to the people ahead of me. I can hear it in their voices. See it in their eyes.

It never really “gets better.”

So what do I do?

I buckle up and keep riding the roller coaster to get used to it. 

Once I get used to the ups and downs…

I’ll learn it’s all about the ride, baby.

You’re Awesome,

Jared

Things Worth Clicking

A few gems I found on the internet this week - no digging required

• How to get better at pitching your business from Ashwinn (via Shaan Puri). Shaan is very very good at thinking like a marketer.

• Ismael Diaby built a list of small businesses that he found doing over 20k/mo. Stop thinking about having to build a hot company and take baby steps first

  

• Sam Parr asked for new history book recommendations. I’m a history book nerd when it comes to untold history. Enjoy the comments, its filled with gold.

I Dig So You Don’t Have To

1 Set: Franky “Wizardo”

2 IDs: