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- It takes a village.
It takes a village.
my grandfathers village in Bulgaria
In 2021, I was a solo founder hacking on an app I thought would change the world.
I was willing to do whatever it took -- I coded for 12 hours a day, pulled countless all-nighters, and neglected everything else.
I kept reasoning to myself "the only way you lose, is if you quit".
Eventually, I burned myself out, and wondered what I was doing it all for.
Today, I see this ethos missed the most critical lesson.
It takes a village to build something meaningful.
You cannot do it alone.
The people you have on your team ultimately dictate whether your company succeeds.
This includes co-founders, founding team members, investors, advisors, partners, etc.
If you want to build something big, you'll need to get all of those people decisions right.
I've seen largely unestablished entrepreneurs move to San Francisco / Silicon Valley and go on to start billion dollar companies because they find the right ecosystem of people here.
They find their village.
Finding your village.
More than 2 years ago I booked a one-way ticket to San Francisco with less than $10k to my name.
I thought I'd be here for one month — I'm still here today.
It was the best decision of my life.
I lived in a closet to stay lean while I figured things out (my bed was legit in an 8ft x 8ft closet).
A year ago I booked a one-way ticket to SF.
It was the best decision of my life.
I lived in a closet to stay lean while I figured things out.
I found my tribe at @fdotinc.
I started a startup that was "my baby".
I killed it.
I started @leap_api.
I turned 23.
We grew the… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— Alex 🇺🇸🇧🇬 (@_alexshaq)
2:50 AM • Jan 2, 2024
I showed up at Founders Inc. (an incubator in the Marina) after a friend invited me for the day.
It was one small room with ten of the smartest founders I'd ever met.
2 weeks later I was recruited to join f.inc — first as a Founding Engineer — and then Studio Founder.
Now more than 2 years later, those people are some of my best friends.
That one-way ticket was the ultimate hack; it gave me a seat at the table in Silicon Valley.
The Third Door.
If you are just getting started, you are looking for people who are already in the position you'd like to be in.
1-3 steps ahead of you is ideal.
Do whatever you can to be in and around a group of those people.
There are many of these communities available — Y Combinator, Neo, Founders Inc, etc.
But know that if you're aspiring to compete with the best teams, it won't be easy to get in.
At this stage, I committed to the idea of the Third Door.
“Success in life, business or almost any field you choose, is like getting into a nightclub. There are always three doors: The first door is the main entrance, where almost everyone queues, waiting and hoping to get in.
The second door is the VIP door, where the celebrities and billionaires slip straight through.
And then there’s the third door. Most people don’t even know it exists, but it does. You have to step out of line, run around the back of the club, bang on the door, maybe sneak through a kitchen. You’ll need a little audacity and a little initiative, but there’s always a way.
The world’s most successful people went through the third door, ignoring the queue in their determination to get ahead.”
As an 18 y/o I leveraged this to gain access CEO’s that tens of thousands of people want to talk to.
I received an offer to speak on IHEARTRADIO and to co-author a book with a best selling author and CEO.
This all happened within a 2 week period.
As I 20 y/o this is how I met Farza.
NYC Founder Demo Meetup Pt. 3 :)
As always, if interested in joining just drop me a DM w/ your email + what you're working on.
— Farza 🇵🇰🇺🇸 (@FarzaTV)
3:00 PM • Jul 1, 2021
We had weekly founder meet ups in NYC.
The talent density was ridiculous.
After he finished Y Combinator, he moved to SF.
Been ~6-months since I moved out to SF.
One of the best decision's I ever made.
For the the first time in my life -- it feels like I have a close knit, local community of builders I can lean on.
Shoutout to @fdotinc 😄.
Here's us in December in a tiny ass room starting out:
— Farza 🇵🇰🇺🇸 (@FarzaTV)
10:21 PM • Aug 2, 2022
When I saw this tweet, I knew that was the room I needed to be in.
He was the friend who invited me out for a day.
The rest is history :)