I’m writing this for those of us who have a dream. We have a dream of building things that are used by millions or even billions of users every day. One of my company’s investors and advisors, put it this way:
We all have one life to live. Why not work on things that have the biggest impact possible? Terrence Yang
For years and years I was paid well to build software on behalf of other companies, but deep in my soul, I was always unsatisfied. It felt like I had trained my whole life for the Olympics, but was only competing in local 10k’s. I wanted more responsibility. I wanted to touch more users. I wanted more glory.
There will be challenges
Everybody I know has a big ‘but’. Come on Simone, let’s talk about your big ‘but’. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
The dream is there, but then comes the rub. We all have big ‘but’s in our lives. “I don’t have the money.” “I don’t have the time.” “The idea is not good enough.” “I don’t have the right connections.” “I don’t have the right team.” “I don’t have the right skills.” And so we come to this point where we have the idea that we want a startup, and the truth is, that’s where it ends for most people. Days pass and inaction takes precedence.
We must take action
The follow-through, the execution, is a thousand times more important than a ‘great idea’. In fact, if the execution is perfect, it sometimes barely matters what the idea is. The first step? Just do it And bluff your way through it. Felix Dennis, How to Get Rich
And so we have to decide not just to have ideas and dreams, but to act upon them. It’s not about having the perfect idea, or the perfect skills, or the perfect opportunity. It’s about deciding to be a person of action that will live their best possible life pursuing their dreams and passions.
The Stakes
So what are the stakes? The stakes are our lives. Literally, we are all going to die and at some point we have to make a decision whether we are going to choose to live a life of significance and impact, then we have to be tireless in executing on that. Most people will choose not to live their life like that and will settle for mediocrity, but we don’t have to. Each day we have a choice to hit the snooze button on our life, or take a stand. This is about taking a stand if our dreams are to build software of significance.
This is about not settling. This is for people who want to make the absolute biggest impact they can. If you’re looking to build apps for a small niche audience, or for your local dry cleaner, or custom workflow apps for enterprise, then this is not the mission for you.
If you’re still here reading, you’re here because startups are calling you like they called me. Let’s get on with it.
This article was originally posted on Medium and can be found here.