Celebrate small wins

The other day, A Dorm Room Fund partner sent me a small gift with a note. It said,

The other day, A Dorm Room Fund partner sent me a small gift with a note. It said,

At MIT we learn to celebrate the small wins of our friends because they won’t themselves.

It was a great reminder that it’s healthy and necessary to celebrate small wins.

The startup world is full of big dreams and unbelievable aspirations. The driven people who pursue careers in this industry are focused and thrive on the chase of the impossible.

As a founder I moved too fast through successes and validation because the scale of my aspirations perpetually dwarfed the current victory. To do the impossible, I had to believe when no one else did — I had to make it real and pull it forward in my mind, describe it in great detail to anyone who would listen and everyone else who wouldn’t. My company was the one sacred thing I poured everything into and without the refreshment of a win I could feel, my soul gurgled and ran dry.

Compared to where I was going, nothing seemed worth celebrating. All the wins felt small when they happened. This was an emotional death spiral and one of the reasons the actual winning stopped at the company.

When you are called to be a founder, you never really win. You have to believe you can always go bigger. This is why you gotta celebrate the small wins and why you need friends who will do it for you.