Startup, Wife, Baby, Dog
Entrepreneurship and fatherhood are similar in many ways. They both require focus, attention, create a slew of emotions, and elevate passion to a level you didn’t realize was possible. You can absolutely love both, but as a new startup founder, you just can’t spend the same amount of time on each one. I learned early that you need to decide where to focus the majority of your energy. You’ll basically and inevitably need to make the hard decision to spend less time with one or the other. Throw a pet into the mix, like our dog Rocco, and I definitely experience the daddy guilt that comes with my mismanaged family-time calendar!
One of my favorite parenthood graphs is at codinghorror.com. Jeff Atwood explains it best with his hard rule, at least for the initial first year or so of parenthood: 49% pain in the ass, 51% most sublime joy you’ve ever felt. But it’s the 1% that makes all the difference. I agree. I also agree that it’s the most amazing experience in the world, and it’s so hard to explain to anybody without kids that I just focus on the time-consuming aspects when I’m asked about being a father. But really, it’s my wife that makes it possible to start a new company. She’s the one that’s sacrificed her own company, time, body and sleep to take care of our son Maverick every day so I can go make something great; as she says. She definitely sets the bar high for me, but I make sure to work my ass off to so there’s no doubt that she (and I) made the right decision (but more her). Everything from late nights designing UX or coding product to early mornings refining pitch decks, customer collateral and financial modeling. Here’s what a typical weekday looks like for me:
- 5:30 AM: Time to wake up, because Maverick says so
- 5:45 AM: Take the dog outside
- 6:00 AM: Check a few emails
- 6:20 AM: Shower, shave, wear hoodie/t-shirt/jeans
- 6:45 AM: Grab a to-go breakfast, do the “dada goes bye bye” rounds
- 7:10 AM: Head out to the office, grab coffee on the way
- 7:30 AM: At the office (no distractions), get setup
- 7:40 AM: Distracted by a YouTube link someone sends
- 7:50 AM: Back on emails
- 8:00 AM: Start coding, designing, building, planning
- 8:30 AM: Scrum standup
- 9:00 AM: Text from wife, asking if I remembered to do something (that I probably forgot)
- 9:10 AM — 6:15 PM: The shit I gotta do to run a startup
- 6:00 PM: Call from wife, asking if I’ll be home to kiss Maverick goodnight
- 6:30 PM: Get home (some nights, usually later)
- 6:35 PM: Give Maverick a bath if I can
- 6:55 PM: Read a book with Maverick, hugs and kisses nite nite
- 7:15 PM: Back on email
- 7:45 PM: Dinner time
- 8:30 PM: Forecasts, blog post like this one, business model update, competitive research, SWOT analysis, refine pitch deck
- 11:00 PM: Bedtime?
- 2:30 AM: Maverick wakes up some nights (30 mins or less)
- 4:00 AM: Maverick wakes up most nights (1 hour)
Honestly, the most immediate gratification is if I’m able to give Maverick a bath and kiss him goodnight. However, the most fulfilling time of the day is when I know we have a great innovation or advance in product because the team worked hard, and I worked hard, to get it there. Without these two things happening each and every day, I would just be a startup guy or a dad, but not get to truly experience both. I’ve already experienced launching, building and selling a successful company without having a baby, and I have to admit, where I’m at now is more incredible. Deeper motivating factors drive my daily decisions, and the desire to make Codalytics a great company is even stronger than the last company. I also get to set concrete examples of hard work and the following successes as a result for my family. I’m definitely an entreprenewerfatherandhusband, and I’m loving all of it!
