Rock Bottom is a Trampoline
Eight years into my company, we stood at the edge of an existential delay brought on by circumstances outside the control of ourselves or our client. There was about two weeks of cash before the whole thing came crashing down (If we did nothing). Obviously as entrepreneurs we weren’t going to simply do nothing. This wasn’t our first rock bottom, it wasn’t even our fifth rock bottom: and we survived all the others – bruised but stronger and smarter each time.
It was during this particular rock bottom that I realized something that really scared me… I wasn’t scared. I should be scared, people’s livelihood was on the line, my own included: a failed founder CEO is literally unemployable. But I wasn’t scared like the last times – the cold sweat, the sleepless churning nights, the seven stages of grief – because we had always come through, for me: rock bottom had become a trampoline.
How to turn rock bottom into a trampoline
Firstly, as scary as the situation seems, even if the company fails, you are still alive, and you will eventually bounce back armed with experience to rebuild.
Experience has taught me that the unknown is always scarier than the actual outcome. We spend months stressing over an event that when the day comes resolves itself with little (or at least way less) horror than your body felt stressing up to it. Focus on the things in your control, and not the scary unknown and the “what if’s”. This is also true when communicating with your teams. If you leave a gap in the flow of information, they will fill that gap with the scariest worst case scenarios.
How did we always bounce back?
Looking back I found ways that I approached catastrophic failure in my own business, hopefully if you are facing the bottom you can use these strategies to build a trampoline too. Potentially my purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others!
It’s all your fault, now fix it
Always take responsibility. Luckily this is generally the way entrepreneurs are wired. Without a boss there’s really no one else to blame. Don’t forget this in your rock bottoms if you want to bounce back. Never be the victim of your circumstances, own the blame so you have the power to fix your situation.
Do not quit
Don’t Quit. There’s this bullshit out there created by investors: Fail Fast!! And it makes sense for them, when you take their investment you become a commodity to be sold like a loaf of bread or lump of coal – hopefully at a large multiplier. Investors spread their money around ten companies knowing that most will fail but one will win big. Investors are not interested in investing more than they absolutely need to, so if you fail fast there’s no more cash out, and they can cheer on their other nine bets. What they don’t see is that this company is your only bet, and if you still believe in it:
Be a Cockroach
For a founder, the opposite of fail fast is true. I say “be a cockroach” – do whatever it takes to survive. Because business is about survival. The longer you survive, the more you learn, the more relationships you build, the more opportunities you get. This is why runway is so important too. Every time we hit the bottom a new source of revenue was just around the corner, by simply surviving we lived to see it. Use every lever you have to hold on.
Make a plan
Check out my post on Business Plan Number One. TL;DR: “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.” – General Patton. What can you control, who can you talk to, what levers do you have left to pull? The best time to make this plan was probably three months ago, but the second best time is now.
Hustle
Find that next gear and hustle – I’ve watched founders on the brink hustle (like they probably should have a few months sooner) and turn the situation around every time. There were many times my company needed hundreds of thousands of dollars in two weeks to make payroll. I called every potential client, called every current client, called in every friend and favor, used up a little relationship capital, and bam: A pilot project here, an early payment there, a short term loan there, hold the: rent, tax, and founders pay, and we made payroll every time.
Entrepreneurs don’t like to lose
Being competitive and proving people wrong is in every founder’s blood. Rock Bottom is your time to shine. You can quit and lay there, or you can make a trampoline and bounce back!
Want to read more?
If you make it through the startup phase to product market fit, check out my Business Growth Consulting practice.
If you landed on Rock Bottom is a Trampoline page first, consider starting at the Prologue: Ehh?
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About Me
Hi, I’m a founder-CEO with 20 years of experience growing companies, building relationships, imagining the future, and creating new things. I started my entrepreneurial journey in 2002 when I founded my first company, creating visual effects for Hollywood TV shows, where I won an Emmy for ‘Lost’ and received four nominations.
In 2010, I founded an aerospace and defense technology startup and led the company through unbridled naivety, survival, bootstrap, dogged resilience, and scaling. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to sit on numerous boards and round tables comprising diverse companies, communities, people, and points of view. I’ve successfully sold to Hollywood giants like SyFy, Fox, ABC, and Disney, to aerospace leaders such as Boeing, Lockheed, and Babcock, as well as the Canadian government, securing multi-year multi-million dollar contracts.
Now, my mission is to help fellow founder-CEOs by bringing proven strategies and customizable playbooks into their businesses. I coach them on building a solid team and executing their plans while focusing on what they love to do, ensuring their business thrives. My coaching expertise lies in strategy, business development, B2B & B2G, marketing, sales, and creative problem-solving. I’m here to help you get your business working for you, not the other way around!
Awards
1 Emmy, 4 Nominations, News Maker of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Team of the Year, Tech Company of the Year, Top 5 Moments in Television History (Lost – Pilot), 4 Time Top 75 Defence Company
Achievements
TEDx Talk, FuckUp Night Talk, Host of Western Innovation Forum, Trade Show Panelist, and Speaker.
Boards
Victoria Innovation, Advanced Technology & Entrepreneurship Council (VIATEC) Western Canadian Defence Industry Association (WCDIA), The Alternative Board (TAB), Vancouver Island Aviation Association (VIAA)
Hobbies
Painting, Running, Sailing, Hiking, Camping, Traveling, Reading, Cooking.
Great Books
Scaling Up, Unfuck Yourself, Good to Great, Everything is Fucked, The Untethered Soul. How to Sell an Elephant