martin zeman's blog

My first thoughts about startup life? It’s a crazy emotional roller coaster.

One day everything looks perfect, future is bright and clear, nothing is a problem and I just want to get on with the work. But then, another day, I feel down, almost depressed asking myself what the hell I am doing and wondering if we are ever going to launch.

I am starting to see patterns in this though which I hope will help me reduce the bad times and multiply the good ones. Here are the things that help me:

Take a step back – Look at the big picture. Ask: What is really important? What we need to focus on?

Do the work – A feeling of moving forward is absolutely crucial. We can talk for ages but unless we do something tangible it feels like wasted time to me. Even when I know that the discussions are vital – they feel worthless without a tangible end result.

Don’t take arguments personally – Recently we spend a lot of time arguing about elexu – both me and David feel very passionate about it and while we share the top level vision our views on how to get there sometimes differ which leads to heated discussions. Knowing that we both want the best for the company helps us find compromises and remain cool on a personal level – but it helps to remind ourselves every now and then.

If you have any tips or your own experience, please share in the comments. Cheers.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi)

My friend, Botanicus aka Jakub Stastny, is working on a start-up project and he is sharing thoughts about enterpreneurship on his blog: http://blog.101ideas.cz/. Get inspired. I did.

Inspired by Jakub’s post about Managing Motivation, here is my answer to the question:

Why do I work on Elexu?

• Big Challenge. This is a challenge I have been looking for for a long time, one that will test my abilities to the maximum. This can ultimately show me what I am capable of as there are almost no limits to a start-up success. Am I good enough?
• Making World a better place. I know this will sound silly but I’ve always felt like I should try to make the World a better place. The world seems to be far from perfect and people who could do something about it often focus on making money or having fun. If they will not change the World, who will? Elexu is a huge opportunity for me to do it, probably the best opportunity I will ever get so let’s not waste it.
• Elexu needs me. David has created an excellent vision, he is great at selling it to people and he knows how to run a company. But he needs someone to help him with IT related stuff. Someone who would understand him perfectly as well as IT. And that’s where I feel I fit in like a piece of puzzle.

• Doing what I love – Innovate. Times I liked the most in my previous jobs were when I was changing ways things had used to be done there before. Innovation that’s what I am about. A start-up offers massive opportunities for innovation and much better environment for it as well without corporate politics or employees scared of change.