Entrepreneurship and fitting in

This email has nothing to do with SVB

SXSW is a line simulator.

That has nothing to do with this piece OR SVB, but I bought passes and holy fuck was that a mistake.

$1800 to stand in 4 hours of lines to see 2 talks. really, just go to coachella

Anyway-

Most people who read this are entrepreneur in one way or another.

I havent had a “real job” in almost 7 years, and I just turned 29.

One of the hardest parts of being an entrepreneur for me is the difficulty I feel navigating social norms.

Its isolating running a company.
Most of the media out there paints being a founder/ceo as an awesome thrill ride or board meetings and takeovers.

In reality it is staring at your computer for 12 hours making sure one new idea works.
Or you are writing. There is so much writing. Or coaching. Or thinking.

And the better you are at it, the more you do it. The longer you do it.

And what I have found is its like specializing in a thing no one understands.
Its just harder to relate to people or old friends.

Its obsession.

While they are working towards a promotion, you are making sure your company has enough money for payroll.

The true day to day reality of being a CEO is alien.
Especially at this middle scale Ridge is at.

Just big enough to start doing real world impacting things, but small enough where I make all the decisions.

There isnt a rulebook. Just a deep end that rolls on forever.

My slogan at Ridge is “we try to make the right decision, in the moment, every time.”
Thats as far as my planning goes.

Why am I writing this?
Well at SXSW you do a lot of networking.
And what I found is… I stumble.

How do I explain my job without sounding like a pretentious douchebag?
The go to forever was “I sell wallets on the internet”
Does that fit Ridge in 2023?

And also… does that even matter?

The only thing I care about is ecom and the people in the industry get it.
So who cares how I come off to a middle manager at Paramount+?

I guess what I am describing is the fact that the more specialized your expertise becomes, the less people you can relate to about it.

And when your work, is your passion, is your life that can be a difficult pill to swallow.

What tools have I found to compensate for this:

FIND PEERS.

People you respect, look up too, and trust.

How I do this:
text groups

I have found what I am writing to be a universal phenomena of the most successful people.

We all are looking for that group that just gets it.

I dont text friends from highschool anymore.

But a group of 40 year old 9 figure entrepreneur?
We talk every day lol

That has been my community recently.
And as Ridge grows, I think that becomes more and more of my reality.

This newsletter doesnt have any ecom tips.
It wont help you start an agency.

But maybe it is a little relatable.

Putting your all in something leaves very little left over.
You wont balance it all.
Something gets left behind in a zero sum game.

But you can find your people.

Just gotta look.