The GOOD, the BAD & the UGLY of having started my own company

Entrepreneurship is a bumpy road, no doubt about that.

Starting a company is about building an organization that operates under conditions of extreme uncertainty with the goal of finding a sustainable business model.

When I stated my own company on sorghum genetic improvement (named 3e) & software development (named QiWord), I did not know how it was going to turn out, the only thing I knew was that I wanted to do it.

Two years and one investor later, my startup has crushed.

On reflecting about my journey as entrepreneur and the things I learned during the process, I can tell that making mistakes is part of the game. When there is money involved, mistakes can be painful.

When interacting with the investor of my company, I learned that for him it was all about money at times, by mostly about control. On the other hand, my motivations was mainly about succeeding in implementing and launching products, and then about how the products could make money to the company ant to its shareholders. Finding middle ground with my investor was an art I had to learn to cultivate.

In summarizing the last two years as entrepreneur, I have identified good, bad and ugly things about having started my own company that I will build upon on my next projects. Here they are;

The GOOD — Things I did right:

I had the drive & will power to get started.

I could pitch my ideas for someone to invest in them.

Got accepted at two incubators in New Jersey.

Managed infrastructure & human resources.

Implemented upon software idea & launched software to market.

Brought venture capital firm to the negotiation table and got investment offer to spinoff software into second company.

I led a team of people under a common goal.

Got two years of real life MBA education.

For the first time I allowed myself to explore a path different from science at an academic setting.

The BAD — Things I could have done better:

Give less equity to investor in first round.

Tie investment to agreeable milestones.

Control finance of startup (investor did).

Leave aside a bigger stock option pool to attract top talent.

Vest equity over time to first employees.

The UGLY — Things I should have avoided all together:

Started company without having a really strong operating agreement that contemplated and better protected my interests as entrepreneur and creator of ideas / knowledge generator.

Let investor tell me what to do in science-related matters knowing it was the wrong path (I lacked the necessary self-confidence to say: “hey, I am the one with the PhD here”). In this particular case, money wasn’t a good substitute for knowledge.

So, what’s up next for me?

Keep going.