I want to share something I’ve been thinking about - that’s relevant to the moment that it feels DeGods & y00ts are in right now.
It’s something that I learned from my first startup.
We went from a hacky side-project at UCLA to a YC-backed startup with millions in revenue in about 1 year.
I learned a lot about myself as a leader during this time.
I was 19 & anxious all the time. Constantly nervous about the smallest things. Every problem felt like life or death.
My biggest mistake was projecting that anxiety onto everyone around me.
I would get upset at others for not being as anxious as me.
“How are you calm right now? Did you not see the support tickets?”
“We’re not going to hit our growth numbers! We’re fucked.”
In reality, deep down this was purely performative. It was a sign of my inexperience. I felt like I had to “prove that I care” by appearing stressed out.
The even worse problem is that you do your worst work when you’re scared.
You make even dumber decisions. You try to polish turds instead of just pivoting to something better. You take the safer route. You lose.
When things are at their worst - you have to be your most confident. Especially as a leader. You have to be the calmest person in the room. You need to be creative. You have to be ready to take even more risks.
I’m sharing this because I have noticed a huge spike in people voicing their anxiety in our communities.
Which is fine. It doesn’t affect me.
I’ve been dedicated to this project every single day for the last 2 years. We’ve had our ups & downs but I am proud of how far we’ve come. I’m proud of our work and I’m proud of our community.
I’m confident we will surprise & delight even our biggest critics. I think you should be too.
And that’s why I wrote this.
It’s just a personal way for me to tell you that this is not the time to be angry or stressed.
If you can’t get over the anxiety… then just step away. I understand. I get it.
If you’re in, then stick around and enjoy the comeback. It’ll be fun.
Day 1 missions are well underway.
We had issues, and we pushed a lot of fixes, but the job is nowhere near done.
This is v1 beta, and the chat is electric and discussing strategies. In the worst NFT bear we've had, there are tons of positives with the release.
We'll balance things, we'll keep things exciting, and there are surprises we never told anyone about.
We'll make this work.
The start of a long journey for your Pilots.
Sold out.
Thank you.
I promised to do everything right by the holders when we first started BSL.
Nothing changed, except we're bigger and stronger now.
You can dunk on me right now, sell for a loss, or wait and see what we can do.
Stay legendary,
Alex.
Hearing @frankdegods talking about @MrBeast I want to try an experiment. Giving away my Points Parlor prize. Just Like & RT to enter. Will pick a winner in 24hrs. h/t @pudgypenguins for prize and @KrakenNFT as sponsor.