A month ago we found out that my nephew Bryan, who was born a week before my 16 month old son Christian, has a brain tumor.
Nothing in this world can give you perspective like staring death straight in the eye. It makes you see the big picture really quickly and realize that you can be “here one day and gone the next.” My perfectly healthy cousin Michael literally got run over by a bus in Philadelphia not even a year ago and was announced dead on arrival.
I share these incredibly personal and tragic stories because I hope that some good can come from them. Yes, I hope you appreciate life more. Yes, I hope you live today as if it were your last. But I also hope you are inspired to take a chance on yourself. I can’t help but think how many dreams and good ideas never get realized and how many would be entrepreneurs never made because they lacked the courage to take the plunge. If that describes you then I hope these stories help give you the courage to make a run for your dreams. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how many bills you have there is never a better time to go for it than right now. I am living proof of that!
A few weeks ago I announced here on this blog that I am leaving the company I helped build from 5 to 110 people and 0 to 7M monthly users for the past five years, at the end of March to start another Internet software company. A lot of people think I am nuts to leave such an amazing team just as all our hard work was starting to pay off, right as the company is poised to make a run for the #1 spot in its category. Add to that a rather hefty mortgage on an apartment in Manhattan, a 16 month old baby with plans for another and the fact that my wife left her VP job 17 months ago to be a full time mom. In most people’s opinion this is the exact wrong time for me to be taking a risk and starting another company. But this is all I have ever dreaming about doing for as long as I can remember. I started my first business when I was 16 and had three people over the age of 30 working for me. Ok, for like a minute I majored in finance in college because I thought I wanted to be Gordon Gekko after seeing Wall Street, but I got over that really quickly and have started a few other businesses since then. A month ago “they” started making me question if I was indeed nuts. But then I was coming out of my health club while an older gentleman in his 70’s was coming in and I thought to myself, when I am his age I want to look back and say I went for it. I don’t want to be spending my golden years wondering “what if.” No matter what the outcome, I want my kids and grand kids to know I had the balls to try and they should too.
Ben Franklin said “if you have your health you have everything”. When Beatles drummer George Harrison died of Cancer in 2001 I remember thinking even a billionaire can’t pay his way out of death and no amount of money can save your when your number is up. So for all you would be entrepreneurs out there, what are you waiting for? The longer you wait the harder it will be, so there is never going to be a better time than right now. Tomorrow might be too late.
If anyone else has a story about what made them take the leap and start a company that you think would inspire others please share in the comments.
