I wrote this in 2017 but never published it. Not for any real reason but just because it wasn't finished and I forgot about it. In August 2018 I'm resurrecting it and publishing it. Just in case it helps someone.
A few weeks ago we shut down 99interns 😢 after a few years in the market and good market recognition. I shut down oddswop a couple of years ago (well kinda shut down. I still need to deregister the company and finalise all the tax stuff). But I still had New Home Review which was setup relatively recently and BadgerMe which was a couple of years old. But even those are being shut down. The BadgerMe back end was closed out last week and New Home Review, I've advised Ciaran and other people working on things that I'm shutting it down as well. Because...
I'm going all in on one startup. Yes ONE. And it's not even mine. Well it is mine but I won't be the Founder. I'll be the co-founder.
It's definitely been a super busy time for me but also a time where due to the pressure my ideas and values have been made clearer. I've been super busy with work and moreso with GovHack. GovHack has been a gig I volunteered for and really enjoying but finding that I'm doing a lot more than I expected to. I would easily be spending 30+ hours on it.
But it's the energy and flow from working on GovHack which has made me realise that I need the right sort of person to work with on a startup. It's not something that I can carry alone. All my previous startups, I've had a co-founder because I was told I should. Or I thought it may be a good idea. But I need to have that energy inherent in the organisation before I get there. I can't bring it by myself. As much as I get passionate about things I'm an empath so I tend to reflect others. I need someone super committed and I'm happy to reflect that back.
When I met my now co-founder I was knee deep (or maybe neck deep?) in GovHack. We found the time to talk startups and form a deep bond -- despite the fact we haven't met in real life (IRL)! Which is kinda ironic as the new startup --GoPlatnm.com now called HazTime so visit haztime.com -- is about IRL connections. My co-founder was enthused but it was only after we decided to go for an accelerator that we really had to get our skates on and get something going. So having met in May 2017 it's now early July and we've incorporated, built the site and are gearing up to apply for the accelerator all whilst being super busy everywhere. My husband unfortunately doesn't even get to see me as I'm usually on conference calls in the evening or fixing or building or creating something for GovHack or talking strategy with my new co-founder or closing stuff down!
But here's to a new era, where I focus on the one startup.
Things which have changed since I first wrote this... I've deregistered Oddswop, my husband and I split up 😢, Platnm had a name change to HazTime, I've moved home to Hurstville, I didn't do GovHack this year so I could focus in on HazTime.
A few weeks ago we shut down 99interns 😢 after a few years in the market and good market recognition. I shut down oddswop a couple of years ago (well kinda shut down. I still need to deregister the company and finalise all the tax stuff). But I still had New Home Review which was setup relatively recently and BadgerMe which was a couple of years old. But even those are being shut down. The BadgerMe back end was closed out last week and New Home Review, I've advised Ciaran and other people working on things that I'm shutting it down as well. Because...
I'm going all in on one startup. Yes ONE. And it's not even mine. Well it is mine but I won't be the Founder. I'll be the co-founder.
It's definitely been a super busy time for me but also a time where due to the pressure my ideas and values have been made clearer. I've been super busy with work and moreso with GovHack. GovHack has been a gig I volunteered for and really enjoying but finding that I'm doing a lot more than I expected to. I would easily be spending 30+ hours on it.
But it's the energy and flow from working on GovHack which has made me realise that I need the right sort of person to work with on a startup. It's not something that I can carry alone. All my previous startups, I've had a co-founder because I was told I should. Or I thought it may be a good idea. But I need to have that energy inherent in the organisation before I get there. I can't bring it by myself. As much as I get passionate about things I'm an empath so I tend to reflect others. I need someone super committed and I'm happy to reflect that back.
When I met my now co-founder I was knee deep (or maybe neck deep?) in GovHack. We found the time to talk startups and form a deep bond -- despite the fact we haven't met in real life (IRL)! Which is kinda ironic as the new startup --
But here's to a new era, where I focus on the one startup.
Things which have changed since I first wrote this... I've deregistered Oddswop, my husband and I split up 😢, Platnm had a name change to HazTime, I've moved home to Hurstville, I didn't do GovHack this year so I could focus in on HazTime.
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