Just Say “No” And Forget FOMO

Just say “No” to the

1 millionth startup pitch competition
Random coffee meeting request to “pick your brain”
100th entrepreneur networking event of the month…

…and get back to work on your startup! This may seem like harsh words, but there will always be demands on your time as an entrepreneur. It gets exasperated once you become a startup founder because you insert your own FOMO (fear of missing out) when deciding not to attend various events.

Here’s why:

It seems like everyone is going and they’re connecting, having fun, and making moves — without you. That’s what it seems, but it’s not necessarily the reality.

Once you’ve been in the startup world for a while, you’ll see that almost every founder (if they’re seriously building a business) has an overwhelming amount of anxiety, stress, and lack of consistent sleep. However, no one will really talk about that at these events. These types of conversations are held in smaller, more intimate get-togethers. Those intimate events are the ones you want to make time to engage in at least once a month — they will re-energize you.

LET IT GO, LET IT GO

There are diminishing returns once you are in the thick of building your startup and attending startup events for the sake of being there and FOMO, particularly in your same city. You’ll start to notice that you’ll see the same people over and over again — the startups competing, the people speaking on panels, and those judging startup competitions are pretty much recycled over and over again throughout each city’s ecosystem.

So, with that in mind, let go of the FOMO. A good rule of thumb is to attend one startup event, maximum, each quarter. Otherwise, prioritize spending the majority of your time actually building your business, with concentration on acquiring paying customers and iterating on your product. This is very important to build your case for the viability of your business in the marketplace. Nothing trumps this.

Sure, it’s cool to come out of your cocoon, say what’s up, and see what everyone else is up to, however, that should not consume the majority of your time.

MORE ON #STARTUPLIFE

As we continue to provide transparent insights about the #startuplife, we may hit below the belt. Let’s start with the topic of “Coffee meetings to pick your brain.”

Just curious, how many of those do you take each month?

Not judging, just asking…Source: giphy.com