A lot of younger folks I know have recommended that I consider working for a start-up at this stage in my life because many of them value having an adult in the room and I can afford to take more chances now than I could back when I was raising a young child alone. While I have given thought to this idea off and on but bever quite acted on it. Recently, on a whim,  I decided to evaluate if this might be an option for me. I have had the chance to interview with a fair share of founders in the process. Being the adult in the room is not quite as I had expected. A lot of these folks come from a past life in large enterprise where they saw a really pesky problem no one was solving for.

So they started out by building tools to help them do their own job better. In time, they were able to create a market for their solution and venture on their own - from swimming against the tide in a river they had now plunged into an ocean. The set of challenges had changes significantly in that process. The conversations were good and informative for both sides but something about the energy felt off. I realized pretty quickly that these founders need people who believe in their mission very deeply. My questions while interesting did not demonstrate the blind faith in the cause that they seek. And its not because they are ego-maniacs. It is just operationally expensive to the point of untenable if everyone is not running in the same direction at top speed.