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!
