Great News: I got a new, old car

Last week, my dad handed me the keys to my first car – a ‘95 Volvo. The moment instantly reminded me of an Ivey entrepreneurship event we attended when we just got started. Despite the room being rich with entrepreneurs and investors, a quote by a young founder resonated deepest with me: “every legitimate startup has a beat up car”. It didn’t make complete sense to me (wasn’t the objective to look ’successful’?) but I marked that moment in my mind and associated it with a goal. Not only was I going to get a car, but I was going to prove this guy wrong and get a sweet one…soon!

I was wrong…and I’m glad I was, because by having an old beat up car rather than a new shiny one, I know I’m on the right track (or maybe the world’s greatest silver-lining guy). Inspired by the moment, I thought I’d explain its importance and frame it, along with 4 other points, as things I’ve learned since starting our startup.

1. The Startup Wheels. Nothing against riding a bike or taking transit, but a car is simply more efficient  when you’ve got to fight a bit for every meeting you book and are consequently at the whim of the other side’s location and timing. “Every legitimate startup has a beat up car” – so true. Why beat up though? The biggest mistake you can make is splurge on functional things like cars or nice office furniture. Rather, good startups will spend all their money on people and product. This anecdote captures this point very well: How I Spent a Million bucks and ended up with these two chairs. Alternatively, meet my car:
2. Working @ home is the devil. Everyone’s path is different but chances are that you tell yourself working at home is a great way to cut costs. True on the costs but it’s probably the worst decision you can make. Working at home is distracting and generally unhealthy. More importantly, the goal should always be to surround yourself with people. Not only is being an entrepreneur lonely at times but your space and who’s in it changes everything. Check out the theory of change of Toronto’s Center for Social Innovation for a great argument as to why that’s the case.
3. The N word. You end up doing a lot of it, but I don’t like the word or act of networking because it rightfully implies some sort of shallow self centered activity. My preference is to call it ‘being social’. After all, you’re virtually doing many of same things when you’re networking that you were doing when you met some of your friends. If you have genuine interest in people rather than going in with the ‘how can you help me’ mentality, you’ll go far. Nothing like some Beatles to remind you of the value to having friends.
4. Little wins are BIG wins. Do you know an entrepreneur? Someone chasing a dream? Tell them what their doing is awesome and chances are, you just made their week. Heck, you don’t have to even tell them it’s awesome, just tell them that you noticed. Last week a guy told me he read my blog and it made my day that despite the plethora of signals and noise, I caught somebody’s eye. The reason little wins are big wins is because for a long time, little wins is all you got. For a location where little wins are celebrated often, start using Sprouter.
5. You become a kid again. After you drain your personal resources, your loved ones start supporting you as if you were an empty pocket kid again. I couldn’t have made it this far without my parents covering my living costs and without friends who forgive my frugality or ADD.  But being a kid again also implies that you are rich in idealism – unaware yet what of what impossible means and unafraid of the risks that make most people stop. Is there a better movie that reminds us of how fun it is to be a kid (I love what happens at the 1:00 mark)?

It’s our nature to want to understand things. It’s for this reason, why there is no shortage of ‘how-to’ and ‘my-story’ pieces out there. This list is partially that type of sharing but if there’s one thing to take away, it’s that there is no true formula. There are things you can be, character which you can champion, but if you’re doing something new, that story has yet to be written. The best you can do is take valuable pieces from other people’s experiences and piece them into yours.

About where we started and the quote. It’s not absolute truth that you must have a car . It’s a piece that resonated with me when I started and although we still have a very long way to go, it was a needed reminder of all that it took to get  here.

Good Luck,

Adil