Grappling with tough decisions
I've been grappling with one of the biggest possible opportunities in my life... but this has come at a huge cost: grappling with the dilemma of taking a leave (or dropping out) from school to pursue a web startup or stay in school and hope for a different opportunity.
I've been going through different possible upsides and downsides in the decision of whether to pursue the web startup and forgo a year of school. Since the downside is definitely tolerable (i.e. the worst that could happen is that it flops and I find another job and then resume school in the winter of 2009... also manage the annoying things of taking the leave), I factored that in. I also considered why I am interested in doing this and, in doing so, I realized that was it. I wanted to be part of something web/tech-ish and entrepreneurial. But when it came down to it, my passion for the idea just wasn't 100% and that's simply not enough.
It simply wasn't fair to me, my co-founder, nor for the investors. If they want to invest in the idea, I think they should move forward with my co-founder and team him with someone who is 100% passionate about the idea and can provide the appropriate level of business development. If they feel it's the team they want, then they need to know that I'm not at that stage and I'm not really the right person at the time. I also figure that I have a lot to learn in school and there are may be other opportunities that I simply don't see right now.
As a result, I've decided to not to commit to this and, instead, stay in school. Without question, this has been the hardest decision in my life -- harder than deciding whether to transfer from Berkeley.
I've been going through different possible upsides and downsides in the decision of whether to pursue the web startup and forgo a year of school. Since the downside is definitely tolerable (i.e. the worst that could happen is that it flops and I find another job and then resume school in the winter of 2009... also manage the annoying things of taking the leave), I factored that in. I also considered why I am interested in doing this and, in doing so, I realized that was it. I wanted to be part of something web/tech-ish and entrepreneurial. But when it came down to it, my passion for the idea just wasn't 100% and that's simply not enough.
It simply wasn't fair to me, my co-founder, nor for the investors. If they want to invest in the idea, I think they should move forward with my co-founder and team him with someone who is 100% passionate about the idea and can provide the appropriate level of business development. If they feel it's the team they want, then they need to know that I'm not at that stage and I'm not really the right person at the time. I also figure that I have a lot to learn in school and there are may be other opportunities that I simply don't see right now.
As a result, I've decided to not to commit to this and, instead, stay in school. Without question, this has been the hardest decision in my life -- harder than deciding whether to transfer from Berkeley.
Labels: challenges, decisions, dilemma, entrepreneurship, school
posted by Josh at 2:58 PM
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