Founders — We Can Say, “No.”

[View this email in your browser]( • [Forward to a Friend]( Let's Define Success By What We Don't Have To Do Anymore TL;DR “Why do we measure startup success by money? Is it the money we're truly talking about or the freedoms that money buys? If it's freedom, then how much of that freedom comes from money, and how much of it comes down to choice? Is any of it available to us right now?" What if we defined success by what we DON'T have to do anymore? What if we didn't have to work with people we don't like? What if we never had to miss dinner with our kids? What if we never had to think twice about taking a vacation? Does this sound like startup Shangri-la? I thought so, too, until 8 years ago. I decided to build Startups.com based on everything I never wanted to do again. It fundamentally changed my life. Today’s Advice Sponsored by [S]( Coaching]( The List of "No" is Life Changing It turns out that making a list of things we don't want to ever do is actually much easier than a list of things we are trying to accomplish. That's because saying "no" is more immediate. We can say, "I'll take more vacations when I'm really rich" (the 'someday' paradox), or we can say, "No, I'm not going to work another hour until I get a vacation!" (Bam, we're on vacay!) Once we start applying "no" to all the stuff we really dread, it's shocking how incredibly powerful this can be. I said "no" to missing time with my family (we all stop working at 6 PM sharp). I said "no" to having to commute to work every day (now 200+ people work remotely). I said "no" to answering to anyone (we bootstrapped, not hard to figure out why). Saying "No" is Freedom For a long time I don't think I realized I could say no. I was so focused on what I was building toward — my amorphous vision of future freedoms — it didn't occur to me that my freedom was right in front of me. More importantly, I didn't realize that "no" was what led to freedom. I kept thinking of freedom simply as something I had to run toward, not something I had to consciously avoid to get it. Sticking to Commitments is the Hard Part It's easy to make these commitments — it's really hard to stand behind them. That moment when some obnoxious investor is dangling a check that feels like it could change the trajectory of our business — do we say, "no?” Because that's exactly the moment that all of this matters. We hit so many roadblocks on the path of building Startups.com that challenged our commitments, and many of them slowed us down or created more anxiety. But the payoff — never having to do shit we don't want to do — is worth its weight in gold. Work with a world-class startup coach (virtually) Building a startup is ridiculously hard — and you don’t have to do it alone. Our team of experienced Startup coaches is here to partner with you to help navigate this exciting journey. From idea validation all the way to funding, our time tested process has helped thousands of companies go from an initial idea to thriving startup — Our coaches have helped launch ideas in the thousands, acquire customers in the millions, and raise over 500M in investment capital. We only hire coaches with outstanding experience, measured empathy, and enthusiasm. Learn UX from a former head designer at Airbnb, talk logistics with an operations leader at Uber, or dig into your CRM with an early investor at Salesforce. We know what needs to be done to move to the next level with a startup, and we want to coach you through that; meeting every two weeks to hit each milestone with a coach specifically matched to your needs. [Click here to register]( and take the guesswork out of what to do next. We’ve been through it all — and we are ready to use our expertise to guide your startup where it deserves to be. In Case You Missed It [How Do I Design My Startup Around My Life?]( There’s very little preventing us from designing our startups around our life goals. It starts with us being very clear about what we want to achieve and then taking clear, small steps toward those outcomes. [7 Habits Of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs]( From ice cream powerhouses to e-commerce pros, here are some traits from great founders that I’ve observed and tried to emulate throughout my 20-year career as an entrepreneur. [How Much Should I Be Working? (podcast)]( While there's truth to the assumption that more hours equal more growth, we'll explore how it benefits to think quality and not quantity when it comes to your weekly punch card. Love this topic? Hate it? Let's chat on social media! Wil Schroter Founder & CEO @ Startups.com [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( Copyright © 2020 Startups.com, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you joined Startups.com. Our mailing address is: Startups.com 1322 Manning PkwyPowell, OH 43065-1100 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.