Sitemaps
Let's Get Back to Our Why
Does Startup Success Validate Us Personally?
How We Secretly Lose Control of Our Startups
Should Kids Follow in Our Founder Footsteps?
The Evolution of Entry Level Workers
Assume Everyone Will Leave in Year One
Stop Listening to Investors
Was Mortgaging My Life Worth it?
What's My Startup Worth in an Acquisition?
When Our Ambition is Our Enemy
Are Startups in a "Silent Recession"?
The 5 Types of Startup Funding
What Is Startup Funding?
Do Founders Deserve Their Profit?
Michelle Glauser on Diversity and Inclusion
The Utter STUPIDITY of "Risking it All"
Committees Are Where Progress Goes to Die
More Money (Really Means) More Problems
Why Most Founders Don't Get Rich
Investors will be Obsolete
Why is a Founder so Hard to Replace?
We Can't Grow by Saying "No"
Do People Really Want Me to Succeed?
Is the Problem the Player or the Coach?
Will Investors Bail Me Out?
The Value of Actually Getting Paid
Why do Founders Suck at Asking for Help?
Wait a Minute before Giving Away Equity
You Only Think You Work Hard
SMALL is the New Big — Embracing Efficiency in the Age of AI
The 9 Best Growth Agencies for Startups
This is BOOTSTRAPPED — 3 Strategies to Build Your Startup Without Funding
Never Share Your Net Worth
A Steady Hand in the Middle of the Storm
Risk it All vs Steady Paycheck
How About a Startup that Just Makes Money?
How to Recruit a Rockstar Advisor
Why Having Zero Experience is a Huge Asset
My Competitor Got Funded — Am I Screwed?
The Hidden Treasure of Failed Startups
If It Makes Money, It Makes Sense
Why do VCs Keep Giving Failed Founders Money?
$10K Per Month isn't Just Revenue — It's Life Support
The Ridiculous Spectrum of Investor Feedback
Startup CEOs Aren't Really CEOs
Series A, B, C, D, and E Funding: How It Works
Best Pitch Decks Ever: The Most Successful Fundraising Pitches You Need to Know
When to Raise Funds
Why Aren't Investors Responding to Me?
Should I Regret Not Raising Capital?
Unemployment Cases — Why I LOOOOOVE To Win Them So Much.
How Much to Pay Yourself
Heat-Seeking Missile: WePay’s Journey to Product-Market Fit — Interview with Rich Aberman, Co-Founder of Wepay
The R&D technique for startups: Rip off & Duplicate
Why Some Startups Win.
Chapter #1: First Steps To Validate Your Business Idea
Product Users, Not Ideas, Will Determine Your Startup’s Fate
Drop Your Free Tier
Your Advisors Are Probably Wrong
Growth Isn't Always Good
How to Shut Down Gracefully
How Does My Startup Get Acquired?
Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?
How to Pick the Wrong Co-Founder
Staying Small While Going Big
Investors are NOT on Our Side of the Table
Who am I Really Competing Against?
Why Can't Founders Replace Themselves?
Actually, We Have Plenty of Time
Quitting vs Letting Go
How Startups Actually Get Bought
What if I'm Building the Wrong Product?
Are Founders Driven by Fear or Greed?
Why I'm Either Working or Feeling Guilty
Startup Financial Assumptions
Why Every Kid Should be a Startup Founder
We Only Have to be Right Once
If a Startup Sinks, Founders Go Down With it
Founder Success: We Need a Strict Definition of Personal Success
Is Quiet Quitting a Problem at Startup Companies?
Founder Exits are Hard Work and Good Fortune, Not "Good Luck"
Finalizing Startup Projections
All Founders are Beloved In Good Times
Our Startup Culture of Entitlement
The Bullshit Case for Raising Capital
How do We Manage Our Founder Flaws?
What If my plan for retirement is "never retire"?
Startup Failure is just One Chapter in Founder Life
6 Similarities between Startup Founders and Pro Athletes
All Founders Make Bad Decisions — and That's OK
Startup Board Negotiations: How do I tell the board I need a new deal?
Founder Sacrifice — At What Point Have I Gone Too Far?
Youth Entrepreneurship: Can Middle Schoolers be Founders?
Living the Founder Legend Isn't so Fun
Why Do VC Funded Startups Love "Fake Growth?"
How Should I Share My Wealth with Family?
How Many Deaths Can a Startup Survive?
This is Probably Your Last Success
Why Do We Still Have Full-Time Employees?
The Case Against Full Transparency

Reflections on Gratitude, Grit and Growth

Ryan Rutan

Reflections on Gratitude, Grit and Growth

Being a founder is hard — and we should be grateful for that.

We don’t feel grateful all the time. At least not when we’re lying awake at 3 a.m. in a cold sweat, staring at the ceiling wondering how we have created so much debt in such a short period of time and then looking over at our spouse who is probably pretending to sleep — pondering the same question.

But, I believe it is the sleepless nights, the awkward conversations at family dinners, the long days without measurable progress and the other thousand things that most people wouldn’t tolerate that makes the solutions we build valuable — and the pursuit worthwhile. We relish the challenge as much as the outcome.

As the holidays quickly approach, perhaps you’re like me and find yourself reflecting on the past year. This might be a side-effect of the tryptophan-loaded turkey you just ate. Or, it could be something you subconsciously start doing after you’ve reviewed the financials for Q4. Or, it’s the cold weather keeping me out of my kayak. Whatever it is —this time of year I find myself more willing to wander down memory lane.

I reflect on the tangible, objective accomplishments of the year:

  1. That amazing new developer we hired;
  2. The growth of our email list;
  3. The new on boarding process we created to make user experience better;
  4. The increases in top-line revenue;
  5. The decreases in churn.

I also reflect on the intangible, subjective elements — which, can be harder to pin down and even harder to define. These tend to be the things that I’m extremely grateful for, that fueled me throughout the year, and kept me furiously focused on our mission at Startups.com.

They typically stem from one of the following attributes:

  1. Working on something I’m intensely passionately about;
  2. With a team that truly inspires me;
  3. For people who I care deeply about.

Driven by Passion

When it’s 6AM and I’m in my kayak, holding fishing pole, with only a pelican for company, I’m thinking about two things:

  1. I can’t wait to paddle back in and help founders tackle really tough issues all day.
  2. This pelican really doesn’t seem to follow everything I just told him about optimizing his funnel.

This is in stark contrast to the frequent conversation I have with aspiring entrepreneurs about the dread they’re filled with as they head to their desk, counting the hours until they’re allowed to run screaming for the hills. Just thinking about this has me hyperventilating into a paper bag!

I’m incredibly grateful that I get to do something that pulls me willingly into the fight every day. Incidentally, that fight is helping other’s find that same panacea in their own lives. Pretty meta — I know.

Surrounded by inspiration

Imagine walking into a room where everyone shares the same undying passion for solving a problem that you care so deeply about that you’d do it without a paycheck. Now, imagine that place is your office, your favorite co-working space or a Zoom meeting with your remote team. That’s the reality we strive for.

When I walk into our offices, I overhear conversation after conversation that I want to take part in. The enthusiasm, passion and camaraderie is contagious.

The opposite is also true. I’ve walked into offices where there were no conversations. There were no bonds. People didn’t ask personal questions and they didn’t know details — all because they didn’t care. Apathy is also contagious.

We’ve been very deliberate in building a company culture here at Startups.com. My partner, Wil Schroter, wrote a great piece on how we’ve optimized our culture for happiness. For us, that means surrounding ourselves with people who we like being around. People who are great at jobs they also love. People who inspire those around them through a shared passion for helping founders on their journey, and their individual passions for their own crafts.

There is no room for jerks at our table. Life is simply too short to spend it with them. I’m grateful I don’t have to.

Humbled by you

There is something that makes my hair stand on end every single time it happens — responding to the “Founder Bat Signal”. The moment I pick up the phone to call a fellow founder who has raised a hand and asked for help, I’m simultaneously hit with two overwhelming feelings:

  1. A rush of adrenaline and anticipation at the prospect of tackling a problem that I’m unsure I’m fit to solve, but willing to dive headlong into regardless;
  2. How humbled I am to have the opportunity to play a part in your epic journey as a founder hero.

I know all too well how it feels to be on the other end; frustrated by a recurring issue with technology, a nightmare scenario involving the staff, a string of failed attempts to scale customer acquisition, or just the isolation that comes from running a company.

I want you to succeed. I want you to validate your idea. I want you to find product market fit. I want to hit profitability. I care because we share something amazing: the opportunity to seize destiny and shape it.

I am grateful that you gave me this purpose. It is a gift to each and every one of us at Startups.com.

So, as you reflect on your own year — and all the ups and downs that it entailed — keep being grateful that this is how you spend your days. Building something that is uniquely and unquestionably yours.

Getting to grateful isn’t easy. But, the journey is extraordinary — and, we should be grateful for that, too.

Find this article helpful?

This is just a small sample! Register to unlock our in-depth courses, hundreds of video courses, and a library of playbooks and articles to grow your startup fast. Let us Let us show you!

Submission confirms agreement to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Already a member? Login

No comments yet.

Start a Membership to join the discussion.

Already a member? Login

Create Free Account