If you’re a founder, you know. For all of the veneer and hype, it’s incredibly draining to be the founder of a startup — or any company for that matter. It’s lonely. It’s grueling. It’s emotionally and mentally challenging. And it’s nearly impossible to manage everything you have to do.
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I’ve heard it said that wanting to be a startup founder in this day and age is akin to wanting to be a rock star. It’s the kind thing that folks seem to perceive as exciting and fun. And so any number of folks wind up starting something only to find that it’s anything but fun. Exciting, yes. If you find anxiety exciting. But fun? No.
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If you don’t recognize the names in that headline, you should. Stephanie Ghoston Paul is a former Portland resident now living in Atlanta who worked closely with the Portland startup community. And Paige Hendrix Buckner is a current Portland resident who has been a serial founder and mentor here in town. And so when these two amazing women for whom I have the utmost respect got the chance to chat on Stephanie’s podcast, Take Nothing When I Die, it was a must listen for me. And I thought you might want to listen, as well.
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Among the names of 150 Black tech leaders imploring technology companies and startups to take a stand against systemic racism — through a newly launched effort called Black Tech for Black Lives — a couple of names immediately stood out. That’s because they were Portland founders Stephen Green, founder of PitchBlack, and Lindsey Murphy, founder of The Fab Lab.
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Early in the onset of the our region’s reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portland Business Journal began capturing the stories of a number of local small businesses — tracking their journey through this life altering experience. Now, those stories have been amalgamated with stories from around the US in American Dreams Disrupted.
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Early stage startups can always use more support. And founders can always use more resources for mentorship and capital. That’s why I was so excited to hear about the launch Supermaker and Color, two efforts from Jaime Schmidt and Chris Cantino. Here’s a recent video sharing more on what they’re building and how they’re looking to support early stage founders — including details on the Entrepreneurial Dream Project.
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Sometimes, the best way to navigate the future is to learn from the past. Because we’ve been through downturns before. Maybe not to this extent. But at least in some semblance. So learnings from a startup in the dotcom days — both boom and bust — and the mortgage crisis could provide some interesting insights for startups to survive the current pandemic — and what to expect when the market starts to correct.
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I’ve really grown quite fond of this tradition that Stephen Green started. Where once a day, throughout the month of February, Stephen has taken the opportunity to highlight one black Portland business for Black History Month. And this year, it got even better. Because Built Oregon joined in. And because we got an extra day.
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Despite the prevailing startup mythology, the actual truth is that being a founder can be draining, depressing, debilitating, and lonely. Not exactly the “be your own boss” halcyon existence perpetuated in the media. To exacerbate things, many early stage founders choose to go it alone. Rather than seeking out the help they need. But when they do realize they need help? One of the folks many people seek out is Jerry Colonna. And as luck would have it, he’ll be in Portland on May 13, 2019.
It’s always nice to see local entrepreneurs building a successful company — especially when they continue to remain contributors and stewards of community in Portland. Such is the case with Nat Parker, cofounder of Portland startup Globesherpa, which was acquired by Daimler in 2015.
