Originally posted on LinkedIn
These are my old startup awards — and today they give me zero pride 🫠
When I won these (plus another one that broke), my companies weren’t profitable. And were never going to be.
I won them with talk — standing in front of crowds, spreading emotion and dreams.
But behind it all, there wasn’t much — an idea, some technology (pretty thin, honestly), little to no revenue.
I won them with smoke 🌪️. Selling smoke, spreading smoke.
I’m not proud of selling smoke anymore. I don’t go to events to chase awards.
I’d rather earn the prize of having a profitable company — the trophy doesn’t matter anymore.
And there’s nothing wrong with entering competitions and going to events — they give visibility and market validation. I might go back someday.
But I really hope these awards go to companies with solid metrics behind them — not just great ideas and great dream-sellers.
