12 Entrepreneur Milestones Worth Celebrating
Dear Women Entrepreneurs,
I know most of you didn’t raise $10+ million dollars for your early-stage startup that the media and public loves to celebrate, which is why I’m taking this moment to celebrate you right now.
I put together a list of 12 reasons to celebrate you for pursuing your innovative idea and building that tech startup that the media won’t celebrate, let alone recognize.
So here it goes, I celebrate you…
- For pursuing your startup idea with your hard-earned savings, creative resources, or alternative financing despite being rejected and even discouraged by countless investors and VCs…
- For building your startup on the side, while still working full-time at a job, caring for elderly or disabled relatives, and/or raising your kids all at the same time…
- For facing your fears and courageously putting yourself out there even when people tell you that your idea is stupid, that it will never work, or to just quit and get a “real job”…
- For grinding out your entire startup from end to end as a solopreneur or solo founder, having to learn and perform multiple roles and jobs that you have never done before…
- For learning how to let go of your ego and embracing imperfection, mistakes, and failure as part of the entrepreneur journey and startup process…
- For continuing your startup, even after a major illness, injury, or traumatic incident that you or a loved one had or is currently struggling with…
- For working to improve your messy startup, messy life, and messy self, even though there is unrealistic outside pressure on you to always be flawless and execute perfectly in all areas…
- For hustling and experimenting non-stop with your startup idea every single day for months, or even years, to finally land your first customer…
- For exploring what your true purpose in life is, finding your passion, and serving others all at the same time with your idea so that you don’t have to live a life of regret and unfulfillment…
- For battling regularly with anxiety, depression, and/or even imposter syndrome due to non-stop rejection, doubt, and criticism coming your way, but still pushing through with your startup…
- For bootstrapping your startup to your first six or seven figures in revenue without any funding from outside investors or VCs, many who said you’d never make it…
- For believing in yourself and continuing to put in the work on a consistent basis, even when no one else believes in you.
The news – and maybe even your own family and friends – may not celebrate or even realize your achievements as I’ve listed here, but I wanted you to know that I see you.
You are the inspiring courageous women entrepreneurs and incredible startup success stories that I want to hear more about. Not the story about another privileged Stanford college hoodie-wearing whiz kid who raised $10 million dollars for just a paper-napkin-sketch idea.
The more real, underdog startup success stories that we can celebrate from women founders who have been underserved, underrepresented, and underestimated in the tech startup world, will encourage more aspiring women entrepreneurs to break into tech, start their innovative idea, and build their startup.
For now, my dear woman entrepreneur, if you resonated with any one or more of these reasons, then I encourage you to take some time right now to celebrate yourself.
