Taking a job to fund your startup isn't a failure. It gives you runway, reduces stress, and lets you work on your dreams on the side. The speaker used a job to support his growing family while building his own thing.
So I was speaking at an entrepreneur's event tonight, and the question came up around, if I don't have enough money for my company, what do I do? How do I raise money? For me, I actually think the best way to raise money is through, for most people, is through a job. It's not a bad thing to get a job, or it's not a bad thing to keep your job. In fact, a job can be— you can get great experience, you can have some great people to go to work with every day, you can make money and relax on paying the bills. And just ultimately, that you need to do whatever it takes to take the stress off. It can be really hard starting a new business, and it might take a lot longer than you think to get it off the ground. Having a job is a great way to give you some runway to do that. The problem is if you confuse having a job, you know, treat it as it's a means to an end. I think the problem is when people have jobs and they confuse the career ladder as their path to happiness, which is, okay, the higher I go in the corporation or in the business world, the happier I'll be. Now, that's not true. In fact, the higher you go in most companies, the more stressed you get. You know, when you get to VP and CEO level, I mean, frankly, CEOs are often the most stressed people, period. So if you have your own business and you're stressed about money, it's okay to get a job. It's not failing. Just do what you have to do. In fact, I'll just use myself as an example, which is I have a new daughter coming next year, and I've been thinking, all right, you know, having my own business, there's always some erratic money with any business. Would I want to take a job for a while? Wouldn't be forever. And I could have great people to work with, have a lot of stability for our growing family, and I'm sure that I could have some fun with it. And at some point I would stop it and I'd continue on with really focusing on my own businesses. And there's really— just let go of any guilt or judgment you have around it. And you know what, I think the last thing I'll say is is really, it's okay. It's not taking a step backwards if you get one. If you take one, use it as a step forward.
