It's not over 'til it's over.. but when it's over, it's over.

It's so important to know when to push harder, when to let go and what your tradeoffs of decisions are. I think this applies to seemingly everything: relationships, jobs, and definitely this program.

The science experiment of strangers starting a business

The Next 36 takes 36 strangers and puts us in teams to start a company over 9 months. What I've learned about teams is that you have to trust them, like them, love them, enjoy them, and more than anything, you MUST be aligned in vision, values, and attitude. I was put in a team with two very brilliant guys, but where we lost each other was alignment. We had "pivoted" into a business that was not for me: connecting accounting software with payment gateways. For those of you who know me, there's nothing I hate more than accounting. This doesn't mean it's a bad business; in fact, it's a great business, they're solving a very material problem, and they'll make tonnes of money!

But even after I felt so strongly in my gut and heart that this business wasn't for me, I tried to push myself to stay because I didn't want to seem flakey, I wanted to "finish what I started", it wasn't over with this team.. I was going to make it work. In doing that I hurt myself and the team. The tradeoff of this decision was letting go of the opportunity to join another team where I could have greater impact and perhaps more importantly, be happier, which I've now done and it's the best decision I've made in the duration of the program (our website is www.glimpseglimpse.com). I respect the hell out of my old teammates, but if you're not happy in your heart I can't think of anything more important than making sure you are.

It's not over till it's over.. but when it's over, it's over.

When is the program over, really?

There are 26 days left, and sometimes it it feels like it's over already. Like things have been planted: the N36 has the teams that they love to showcase, the teams they've written off, you've made your impression and there's not much time to change it. But there are still 26 days! That's certainly enough time for a startup to take off or to fail hard, and you don't know until it's over. And it's not over till its over. On August 13, the program is over, but the relationships, friendships, and skills I've built will last much longer than that. Our team is committed to pushing our business forward hard until until the very last day and beyond.

It's not over 'til it's over.

You don't have to be Apple to fix big problems

Thanks to the word "pivot" (which is really when your business failed, and you started a new one/took a dramatically different direction) it feels like a business, and especially your entrpreneurial career, is never over. I've realized that to me, entrepreneurship is a state of mind and a way of looking at the world. Always seeking problems and solving them.

Yesterday I was telling someone how it frustrates me that my music is all over the place (between spotify, hype machine, songza, and more) and he told me that only Apple could solve that problem. It was at that moment I realized how much this program has changed my life, because I thought f%&! that, I'm gonna solve it! Even after the program is over, my new mindset and outlook is forever.

It's not over. 

Fail Harder, Fail Faster

I apologize for how long it has been since my last post-- promise to update more regularly!

I know I haven't posted for the first two months of the program, but I think that should kind of be reflective of what the workload is like here. A typical week looks something like working 14-16 hours a day, learning how to code on Codeacademy when you can spare an hour, preparing for seemingly constant networking events, getting ready for intense classes, and of course finding time to keep updated on world news, tech acquisitions... you see where I'm going.

The Hardest Part
To be honest, the hardest part about the Next 36 isn't even the workload (we type A personalities thrive in this type of environment anyway). The most challenging part of the Next 36 is starting a company with 2-3 people you never knew existed. The Next 36 takes 36 strangers, puts them in teams of 3-4, and says GO! Yikes, at least buy me a drink first. But seriously, it feels like marrying someone (till death or bankruptcy do us part) without ever having met them. If you don't work together you will die; that's all there is to it.

What I'm learning
I have never been so far out of my comfort zone, and I LOVE it! I definitely would not have called myself an Early Adopter pre-n36, but I've become so immersed in tech that I find myself reading about it everyday (TechCrunch, I salute you!), learning how to code, and signing myself up for technology conferences that demo flying cars and sentient robots! It's a change in myself that I'm so thankful for.

In the n36 you're also exposed to a whole new level of peers. Instead of spending Friday nights drinking, our cohort has Lighting Talks after we have dinner together every Friday. During these talks we each take turns speaking for 5 minutes about a topic we find really interesting or simply ridiculous and have 5-10 minutes of questions afterward; topics have ranged from Bitcoins and Excel sensitivity analyses to why Windsor is Canada's best kept secret or how to write a blog (how am I doing Joshua Liu?)

Can't escape academics
There is an academic portion to the program, my favourite of which is the Economics of Entrepreneurship class taught by Reza Satchu. Each week we do a case study where we must be prepared to eat or get eaten. We're purposely put against each other in order to facilitate debate and encouraged to disagree with each other. Each week there is an incredible guest speaker (many CEOs of Fortune 500s and even we've heard rumours that Kevin O'Leary will be on deck shortly) and at the end of class the speaker choses 3 people who can pitch their business and the speaker will spend one hour with that team. (Our team finally earned a chance to pitch and was awarded some time with Jeff Speak!) Eat or get eaten.

I have so much more I want to say-- but I'll save it for next time.

So it begins

So I've decided to write a blog to hopefully help the next N36 cohort get some insight as to what the journey is like, and of course for all of you who are intrigued by what goes on inside entrepreneurship bootcamp!

The Next 36 has been my dream for two years. I was denied entry to the program last year, and that was the first time I failed at something. That’s how I knew I was finally reaching high enough. I had no idea the ride I was about to get on when I was accepted this year.

I’ve never been so challenged and unsure about myself in my entire life. I’m absolutely petrified, and that’s how I know I’m doing something worth while. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this uncomfortable and uneasy in my life, and I wanted to be a part of the Next 36 for exactly that reason (which I try to keep reminding myself).  Life has been relatively easy when it comes to business, school, and finding/creating jobs. I’ve always seen myself with a very entrepreneurial future.

I realize now what that path ACTUALLY looks. It is seriously. F#*&%ing. Hard.

The Next 36 takes the top entrepreneurs (or what we thought entrepreneurship looked like) in the country, puts them in teams with strangers, and says “hey, go start a mobile technology company!” Sounds fun right?! Ya, until you feel like crap because you’re not creating the next Google and think that your business will likely fail because your company isn’t majorly disrupting some industry. The fact that we're four months in and don't have people banging down our door to try our beta keeps me up a night.. talk about unrealistic expectations.

And this is exactly what I LOVE about the Next 36. It’d be great to start a small technology business that services some people in some industry. But that’s not what the N36 sets out to do and I’m not sure any of us in the program would really be happy with that. The N36 cultivates the country’s most promising leaders to be the next Google, Facebook, the Next Whatever. It’s amazing, fun, scary, and more than anything it’s really really really hard. Bring it on!