In this episode, Justin speaks with Aaron Francis about being a new parent and trying to bootstrap a startup. Aaron argued the other side of Justin's tweet thread: "Wait until your kids are older to start a company." Aaron is well-positioned to talk about this because he has twins and is also bootstrapping Hammerstone with his co-founder Colleen. The whole conversation is a nuanced take on the topic and full of important insights, especially on:
the risks involved (especially if you're not working a full-time job)
the kind of foundation (mentally, financially, emotionally, relationally) you need to be able to take the risk
Highlights from this episode:
(00:12) - Welcome Aaron
(01:16) - Topic introduction
(02:28) - What's Aaron's story?
(05:34) - What is a maximum effort era?
(11:02) - What are you willing to sacrifice?
(15:23) - What's your daily routine like?
(17:36) - Context matters in all of this
(28:07) - Are you sacrificing social connections?
(30:59) - Blind spots can affect you on your journey
(33:29) - Pain vs risk
(37:49) - Being on the same page as your partner
(41:53) - Going to therapy sooner
(43:57) - Building a good foundation
(48:57) - Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
(54:00) - Sometimes it's easier to try getting a better job
(01:02:48) - Where can people reach Aaron?
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