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I Spill Stuff and You Should Too

The other night I was talking with a friend about what I'm working on at Techstars and why I'm excited about it. I was so focused on what I was saying I spilled beer all over myself. Later the same evening I was talking about how exciting it was to live in the rapidly changing Midtown Detroit neighborhood and once again spilled a cup of water on the floor.

Reflecting on this, my passion for what I'm working on that lead me to not pay attention to anything else, and spill shit. Spill shit passion is awesome to see in anyone when talking about what they are working on. My friend of 3 years Hunter Rosenblume (founder of Lunar) is spill shit passionate about his company. I can't count on my hands how many times he has knocked something over while feverishly talking about anything related to Lunar. Dedication and laser focus only come with strong passion, and it is essential for succeeding at anything really hard (like starting a cell phone carrier).

If you are not spill shit passionate about what you are doing, do something else.

Square One, Again

I just ran into a founder of a company whom I've known for about a year.

When I first met her, she was already 1 year into building her business. At the time we met, the company was a 4 person team containing both an excellent designer a developer. They were heading into the Techstars program full of promise. Having already built a basic version of their product, ready to grow customers and make partnerships.

When talking today she said that within the last two weeks, the remaining two employees left the company and she was back to being the sole employee. It was obvious she was worried. But she was also hopeful.

In a position where she has a product to sell, it is now time to grind. Hustle. Make some sales and build the team up again from scratch.

What is really exciting is that her face still lit up when talking about the companies product. The passion is still there. The next half year will be pivotal. If she can keep making incremental progress, solid ground isn't too far from reach.

This illustration that John shared shows that success isn't a constant upward trajectory, rather a complicated path with many ups and downs.

Best of luck my friend! Now back to work...